THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 
WILLIAM  P.  TOEDEN 


THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 


The    Meaning    of  Faith 


HARRY  EMERSON  FOSDICK 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  MANHOOD  OF  THE  MASTER,"  "THE  MEANING  OF  PRAYER,' 
"THE  CHALLENGE  OF  THE  PRESENT  CRISIS,"  ETC. 


ASSOCIATION     PRESS 

NEW    YORK:     347     MADISON    AVENUE 
1918 


COPYRIGHT,  1917,  BY 

THE  INTERNATIONAL  COMMITTEE  OF 

YOUNG  MEN'S  CHRISTIAN  ASSOCIATIONS 


The  Bible  Text  used  in  this  volume  is  taken  from  the  American  Standard 
Edition  of  the  Revised  Bible,  copyright  1901,  by  Thomas  Nelson  &  Sons,  and 
is  used  by  permission. 


To 
MY  MOTHER 

IN    MEMORIAM 

" 'Tis  human  fortune's  happiest  height  to  be 
A  spirit  melodious,  lucid,  poised,  and  whole; 
Second  in  order  of  felicity 
To  li'alk  -with  such  a  soul." 


PREFACE 

A  book  on  faith  has  been  for  years  my  hope  and  intention. 
And  now  it  comes  to  final  form  during  the  most  terrific  war 
men  ever  waged,  when  faith  is  sorely  tried  and  deeply  needed. 
Direct  discussion  of  the  war  has  been  purposely  avoided; 
the  issues  here  presented  are  not  confined  to  those  which 
the  war  suggests;  but  many  streams  of  thought  within  the 
book  flow  in  channels  that  the  war  has  worn.  Since  the 
conflict  had  to  come,  I  am  glad  for  this  book's  sake  that 
it  was  not  written  until  it  had  Europe's  holocaust  for  a 
background. 

Against  one  misunderstanding  the  reader  should  be  guarded. 
If  anyone  approaches  these  studies,  expecting  to  find  detailed 
and  special  views  of  Christian  doctrine,  he  will  be  disap- 
pointed. The  perplexities  of  mind  and  life  and  the  affirma- 
tions of  religious  faith,  with  which  these  studies  deal,  lie 
far  beneath  sectarian  doctrinal  controversy.  I  have  tried 
to  make  clear  a  foundation  on  which  faith  might  build  its 
thoughts  of  Christian  truth.  And  while  I  have  spoken  freely 
of  God  and  Christ  and  the  Spirit,  of  the  Cross  and  life 
eternal,  I  have  not  intended  or  endeavored  a  complete  the- 
ology. I  have  had  in  mind  that  elemental  matter  of  which 
Carlyle  was  thinking  when  he  wrote :  "The  thing  a  man  does 
practically  lay  to  heart,  and  know  for  certain  concerning  his 
vital  relations  to  the  mysterious  Universe,  and  his  duty 
and  destiny  there,  that  is  in  all  cases  the  primary  thing  for 
him,  and  creatively  determines  all  the  rest.  That  is  his 
religion." 

As  in  "The  Meaning  of  Prayer,"  the  Scripture  has  been 
used  for  the  basis  and  interpretation  of  the  daily  thought. 
The  Bible  is  our  supreme  record  of  man's  experience  with 
faith;  it  recounts  in  terms  of  life  faith's  sources  and  results, 
its  successes  and  failures,  its  servants  and  its  foes.  And 
because  faith  is  not  a  tour  de  force  of  intellect  alone,  but  is 
an  act  of  life,  prayers  have  been  used  for  the  expression  of 
aroused  desire  and  resolution. 

vii 


viii  PREFACE 

My  indebtedness  to  many  helpers  is  very  great.  But  to 
my  friend  and  colleague,  Professor  George  Albert  Coe,  my 
gratitude  is  so  definitely  due  for  his  careful  reading  of  the 
manuscript,  that  the  book  should  not  go  out  lacking  an 
acknowledgment. 

H.  E.  F. 

December  15,  1917. 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

Special  acknowledgment  is  gladly  made  to  the  following: 
to  E.  P.  Button  &  Company  for  permission  to  use  p'rayers 
from  "A  Chain  of  Prayer  Across  the  Ages"  and  from  "The 
Temple,"  by  W.  E.  Orchard,  D.D. ;  to  the  Rev.  Samuel 
McComb  and  the  publishers  for  permission  to  quote  from  "A 
Book  of  Prayers,"  Copyright,  1912,  Dodd,  Mead  &  Company ; 
to  the  American  Unitarian  Association  for  permission  to 
draw  upon  "Prayers,"  by  Theodore  Parker ;  to  the  Pilgrim 
Press  and  the  author  for  permission  to  use  selections  from 
"Prayers  of  the  Social  Awakening,"  by  Dr.  Rauschenbusch ; 
to  the  Missionary  Education  Movement  for  permission  to 
make  quotations  from  "Thy  Kingdom  Come,"  by  Ralph  E. 
Diffendorfer ;  to  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co.,  for  permission  to 
make  use  of  "A  Book  of  Public  Prayer,"  by  Henry  Ward 
Beecher;  and  to  the  publishers  of  James  Martineau's  "Prayers 
in  the  Congregation  and  in  College,"  Longmans,  Green  &  Co. 

None  of  the  above  material  should  be  reprinted  without 
securing  permission. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

PREFACE    vii 

I.    FAITH  AND  LIFE'S  ADVENTURE i 

II.     FAITH  A  ROAD  TO  TRUTH 26 

III.  FAITH  IN  THE  PERSONAL  GOD 51 

IV.  BELIEF  AND   TRUST 77 

V.    FAITH'S  INTELLECTUAL  DIFFICULTIES 103 

VI.    FAITH'S  GREATEST  OBSTACLE 129 

VII.    FAITH  AND  SCIENCF. 158 

VIII.    FAITH  AND  MOODS 184 

IX.    FAITH  IN  THE  EARNEST  GOD 210 

X.     FAITH  IN  CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  FORGIVENESS 237 

XI.    FAITH  IN  CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  POWER 263 

XII.     THE  FFJ.LOWSHIP  OF   FAITH 289 

SCRIPTURE  PASSAGES  USED  IN  THE  DAILY  READ- 
INGS      316 

SOURCES  OF  PRAYERS  USED  IN  THE  DAILY  READ- 
INGS      317 


PUBLISHERS'  NOTE 

The  complex  subject  of  Faith  has  required  an  extended 
treatment,  which  has  made  the  present  volume  much  longer 
than  the  author's  previous  works.  Every  item  of  expense 
connected  with  publishing  has  greatly  increased  even  within 
the  past  few  months,  and,  to  the  regret,  alike  of  publisher 
and  author,  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  charge  more  for 
this  volume  than  for  "The  Meaning  of  Prayer"  and  "The 
Manhood  of  the  Master." 


CHAPTER    I 

Faith  and  Life's  Adventure 

DAILY  READINGS 

Discussion  about  faith  generally  starts  with  faith's  reason- 
ableness; let  us  begin  with  faith's  inevitableness.  If  it  were 
possible  somehow  to  live  without  faith,  the  whole  subject 
might  be  treated  merely  as  an  affair  of  curious  interest.  But 
if  faith  is  an  unescapable  necessity  in  every  human  life,  then 
we  must  come  to  terms  with  it,  understand  it,  and  use  it  as 
intelligently  as  we  can.  There  are  certain  basic  elements  in 
man  v.-hich  make  it  impossible  to  live  without  faith.  Let  us 
consider  these,  as  they  are  suggested  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  which,  better  than  any  other  book  in  the  Bible, 
presents  faith  as  an  unavoidable  human  attitude. 

First  Week,  First  Day 

Now  faith  is  assurance  of  things  hoped  for,  a  conviction 
of  things  not  seen. — Heb.  n:  i. 

As  Moffatt  translates :  "Now  faith  means  we  are  confident 
of  what  we  hope  for,  convinced  of  what  we  do  not  see." 
When  faith  is  described  in  such  general  terms,  its  necessity 
in  human  life  is  evident.  Man  cannot  live  without  faith,  be- 
cause he  deals  not  only  with  a  past  which  he  may  know  and 
with  a  present  which  he  can  see,  but  with  a  future  in  whose 
possibilities  he  must  believe.  A  man  can  no  more  avoid  look- 
ing ahead  when  he  lives  his  life  than  he  can  when  he  sails 
his  boat,'  and  in  one  case  as  in  the  other,  his  direction  is  de- 
termined by  his  thought  about  what  lies  before  him,  his 
"assurance  of  things  hoped  for."  Now,  this  future  into  which 
continually  we  press  our  way  can  never  be  a  matter  of  de- 
monstrable knowledge.  We  know  only  when  we  arrive,  but 
meanwhile  we  believe ;  and  our  knowledge  of  what  is  and  has 
been  is  not  more  necessary  to  our  quest  than  our  faith  con- 


[I-i]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

cerning  what  is  yet  to  come.     As  Tennyson  sings  of   faith 
in  "The  Ancient  Sage" : 

"She  sees  the  Best  that  glimmers  thro'  the  Worst, 
She  feels  the  sun  is  hid  but  for  a  night, 
She  spies  the  summer  thro'  the  winter  bud, 
She  tastes  the  fruit  before  the  blossom  falls, 
She  hears  the  lark  within  the  songless  egg, 
She  finds  the  fountain  where  they  wail'd  'Mirage'  1" 

However  much  a  man  may  plan,  therefore,  to  live  without 
faith,  he  cannot  do  it.  When  one  strips  himself  of  all  con- 
victions about  the  future  he  stops  living  altogether,  and  active, 
eager,  vigorous  manhood  is  always  proportionate  to  the  scope 
and  power  of  reasonable  faith.  The  great  spirits  of  the  race 
have  had  the  aspiring,  progressive  quality  which  the  Scrip- 
ture celebrates : 

These  all  died  in  faith,  not  having  received  the  promises, 
but  having  seen  them  and  greeted  them  from  afar,  and 
having  confessed  that  they  were  strangers  and  pilgrims 
on  the  earth.  For  they  that  say  such  things  make  it 
manifest  that  they  are  seeking  after  a  country  of  their 
own.  And  if  indeed  they  had  been  mindful  of  that  coun- 
try from  which  they  went  out,  they  would  have  had  oppor- 
tunity to  return.  But  now  they  desire  a  better  country, 
that  is,  a  heavenly:  wherefore  God  is  not  ashamed  of 
them,  to  be  called  their  God;  for  he  hath  prepared  for 
them  a  city. — Heb.  n:  13-16. 

Almighty  God,  let  Thy  Spirit  breathe  upon  us  to  quicken 
in  us  all  humility,  all  holy  desire,  all  living  faith  in  Thee.  When 
we  meditate  on  the  Eternal,  we  dare  not  think  any  manner 
of  similitude;  yet  Thou  art  most  real  to  us  in  the  worship 
of  the  heart.  When  in  the  strife  against  sin  we  receive  grace 
to  help  us  in  our  time  of  need,  then  art  Thou  the  Eternal  Rock 
of  our  salvation.  When  amid  our  perplexities  and  searchings, 
the  way  of  duty  is  made  clear,  then  art  Thou  our  Everlast- 
ing Light.  When  amid  the  storms  of  life  we  find  peace  and 
rest  through  submission,  then  art  Thou  the  assured  Refuge 
of  our  souls.  So  do  Thou  manifest  Thyself  unto  us,  O  God! 

Our  Heavenly  Father,  -we  give  Thee  humble  and  hearty 
thanks  for  all  the  sacred  traditions  which  have  come  down 
to  us  from  the  past — for  the  glorious  memories  of  ancient 
days,  concerning  that  Divine  light  in  which  men  have  been 


FAITH  AND  LIFE'S  ADl'EXTURE  [1-2] 

conscious  of  Thy  presence  and  assured  of  Thy  grace.  But 
we  would  not  content  ottrselves  with  memories.  O  Thou  who 
art  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  the  God  of  the  living,  mani- 
fest Thyself  unto  us  in  a  present  communion.  Reveal  Thy- 
self unto  us  in  the  tokens  of  this  passing  time.  Give  us  for 
ourselves  to  feel  the  authority  of  Thy  law:  give  us  for  our- 
sclres  to  realize  the  exceeding  sin  fulness  of  sin:  give  us  for 
ourselves  to  understand  the  way  of  salvation  through  sacri- 
fice. Teach  us,  by  the  "Spirit  of  Christ,  the  sacredness  of 
common  duties,  the  holiness  of  the  tics  that  bind  us  to  our 
kind,  the  divinity  of  the  still  small  voice  within  that  doth 
ever  urge  us  in  the  way  of  righteousness.  So  shall  our  hearts 
be  renewed  by  faith;  so  shall  we  ever  live  in  God.  Amen.- 
— John  Hunter. 

First  Week,  Second  Day 

By  faith  Abraham,  when  he  was  called,  obeyed  to  go 
out  unto  a  place  which  he  was  to  receive  for  an  inherit- 
ance; and  he  went  out,  not  knowing  whither  he  went. 
By  faith  he  became  a  sojourner  in  the  land  of  promise, 
as  in  a  land  not  his  own,  dwelling  in  tents,  with  Isaac  and 
Jacob,  the  heirs  with  him  of  the  same  promise:  for  he 
looked  for  the  city  which  hath  the  foundations,  whose 
builder  and  maker  is  God. — Heb.  u:  8-10. 

By  faith  Moses,  when  he  was  grown  up,  refused  to  be 
called  the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter;  choosing  rather  to 
share  ill  treatment  with  the  people  of  God,  than  to  enjoy 
the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a  season;  accounting  the  reproach 
of  Christ  greater  riches  than  the  treasures  of  Egypt:  for 
he  looked  unto  the  recompense  of  reward.  By  faith  he 
forsook  Egypt,  not  fearing  the  wrath  of  the  king:  for  he 
endured,  as  seeing  him  who  is  invisible. — Heb.  ij:  24-27. 

Man  cannot  live  without  faith  because  his  relationship  with 
the  future  is  an  affair  not  alone  of  thought  but  also  of  action; 
life  is  a  continuous  adventure  into  the  unknown.  Abraham 
and  Moses  pushing  out  into  experiences  whose  issue  they 
could  not  foresee  are  typical  of  all  great  lives  that  have 
adventured  for  God.  "By  faith"  is  the  first  word  necessary 
in  every  life  like  Luther's  and  Wesley's  and  Carey's.  By 
faith  John  Bright,  when  his  reforms  were  hard  bestead, 
said:  "If  we  can't  win  as  fast  as  we  wish,  we  know  that  our 
opponents  can't  in  the  long  run  win  at  all."  By  faith  Glad- 

3 


[1-3]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

stone,  when  the  Liberal  cause  was  defeated,  rose  undaunted 
in  Parliament,  and  said,  "I  appeal  to  time !"  and  by  faith 
every  one  of  us  must  undertake  each  plain  day's  work,  if  we 
are  to  do  it  well.  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  said  that  life  is 
"an  affair  of  cavalry,"  "a  thing  to  be  dashingly  used  and 
cheerfully  hazarded."  But  so  to  deal  with  life  demands  faith. 
The  more  one  sees  what  venturesome  risks  he  takes  every 
day,  what  labor  and  sacrifice  he  invests  in  hope  of  a  worthy 
outcome,  with  what  great  causes  he  falls  in  love  until  at  his 
best  he  is  willing  for  their  sakes  to  hazard  fortune  and 
happiness  and  life  itself,  the  more  he  sees  that  the  soul  of 
robust  and  serviceable  character  is  faith. 

O  God,  who  hast  encompassed  us  with  so  much  that  is  dark 
and  perplexing,  and  yet  hast  set  within  us  light  enough  to 
walk  by;  enable  us  to  trust  what  Thou  hast  given  as  sufficient 
for  us,  and  steadfastly  refuse  to  follow  aught  else;  lest  the 
light  that  is  in  us  become  as  darkness  and  we  wander  from 
the  way.  May  we  be  loyal  to  all  the  truth  we  know,  and  seek 
to  discharge  those  duties  which  lay  their  commission  on  our 
conscience;  so  that  we  may  come  at  length  to  perfect  light 
in  Thee,  and  find  our  wills  in  harmony  with  Thine. 

Since  Thou  hast  planted  our  feet  in  a  world  so  full  of  chance 
and  change  that  we  know  not  what  a  day  may  bring  forth,  and 
hast  curtained  every  day  with  night  and  rounded  our  little 
lives  with  sleep;  grant  that  we  may  use  with  diligence  our 
appointed  span  of  time,  working  while  it  is  called  today,  since 
the  night  cometh  when  no  man  can  work;  having  our  loins 
girt  and  our  lamps  alight,  lest  the  cry  at  midnight  find  us 
sleeping  and  the  door  fast  shut. 

Since  we  are  so  feeble,  faint,  and  foolish,  leave  us  not  to 
our  own  devices,  not  even  when  we  pray  Thee  to;  nor  suffer 
us  for  any  care  to  Thee  or  for  any  pain  to  us  to  walk  our 
own  unheeding  way.  Plant  thorns  about  our  feet,  touch  our 
hearts  with  fear,  give  us  no  rest  apart  from  Thee,  lest  we 
lose  our  way  and  miss  the  happy  gate.  Amen. — W.  E. 
Orchard. 

First  Week,  Third  Day 

Man  cannot  live  without  faith  because  the  prime  requisite 
in  life's  adventure  is  courage,  and  the  sustenance  of  courage 
is  faith. 

4 


FAITH  AND  LIFE'S  ADVENTURE  [1-3] 

And  what  shall  I  more  say?  for  the  time  will  fail  me 
if  I  tell  of  Gideon,  Barak,  Samson,  Jephthah;  of  David 
and  Samuel  and  the  prophets:  who  through  faith  sub- 
dued kingdoms,  wrought  righteousness,  obtained  promises, 
stopped  the  mouths  of  lions,  quenched  the  power  of  fire, 
escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword,  from  weakness  were  made 
strong,  waxed  mighty  in  war,  turned  to  flight  armies  of 
aliens.  Women  received  their  dead  by  a  resurrection: 
and  others  were  tortured,  not  accepting  their  deliverance; 
that  they  might  obtain  a  better  resurrection:  and  others 
had  trial  of  mockings  and  scourgings,  yea,  moreover  of 
bonds  and  imprisonment:  they  were  stoned,  they  were 
sawn  asunder,  they  were  tempted,  they  were  slain  with 
the  sword:  they  went  about  in  sheep-skins,  in  goat-skins; 
being  destitute,  afflicted,  ill-treated  (of  whom  the  world 
was  not  worthy),  wandering  in  deserts  and  mountains 
and  caves,  and  the  holes  of  the  earth.  And  these  all, 
having  had  witness  borne  to  them  through  their  faith, 
received  not  the  promise,  God  having  provided  some  bet- 
ter thing  concerning  us,  that  apart  from  us  they  should 
not  be  made  perfect. — Heb.  n:  32-40. 

When  in  comparison  with  men  and  women  of  such  ad- 
mirable spirit,  one  thinks  of  weak  personalities,  that  ravel  out 
at  the  first  strain,  he  sees  that  the  difference  lies  in  courage. 
When  a  man  loses  heart  he  loses  everything.  Now  to  keep 
one's  heart  in  the  midst  of  life's  stress  and  to  maintain  an 
undiscourageable  front  in  the  face  of  its  difficulties  is  not  an 
achievement  which  springs  from  anything  that  a  laboratory 
can  demonstrate  or  that  logic  can  confirm.  It  is  an  achieve- 
ment of  faith, 

"The  virtue  to  exist  by  faith 
As  soldiers  live  by  courage." 

Consider  this  account  of  Havelock,  the  great  English  general: 
"As  he  sat  at  dinner  with  his  son  on  the  evening  of  the  17th. 
his  mind  appeared  for  the  first  and  last  time  to  be  affected 
with  gloomy  forebodings,  as  it  dwelt  on  the  probable  annihila- 
tion of  his  brave  men  in  a  fruitless  attempt  to  accomplish 
what  was  beyond  their  strength.  After  musing  long  in  deep 
thought,  his  strong  sense  of  duty  and  his  confidence  in  the 
justice  of  his  cause  restored  the  buoyancy  of  his  spirit;  and 
he  exclaimed,  'If  the  worst  comes  to  the  worst,  we  can  but 
die  with  our  swords  in  our  hands !' "  No  man  altogether 

5 


[1-4]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

escapes  the  need  for  such  a  spirit,  and,  as  with  Havelock 
and  the  Hebrew  heroes,  confidence  in  someone,  faith  in  some- 
thing, is  that  spirit's  source. 

0  God,  "who  hast  sent  us  to  school  in  this  strange  life  of 
ours,  and  hast  set  us  tasks  which  test  all  our  courage,  trust, 
and  fidelity;  may  we  not  spend  our  days  complaining  at  cir- 
cumstance or  fretting  at  discipline,  but  give  ourselves  to 
learn  of  life  and  to  profit  by  every  experience.  Make  us 
strong  to  endure. 

We  pray  that  when  trials  come  upon  us  we  may  not  shirk 
the  issue  or  lose  our  faith  in  Thy  goodness,  but  committing 
our  souls  unto  Thee  who  knowcst  the  way  that  we  take, 
come  forth  as  gold  tried  in  the  fire. 

Grant  by  Thy  grace  that  we  may  not  be  found  wanting  in- 
the  hour  of  crisis.  When  the  battle  is  set,  may  we  know  on 
which  side  we  ought  to  be,  and  when  the  day  goes  hard, 
cowards  steal  from  the  field,  and  heroes  fall  around  the 
standard,  may  our  place  be  found  where  the  fight  is  fiercest. 
If  we  faint,  may  we  not  be  faithless;  if  we  fall,  may  it  be 
while  facing  the  foe.  Amen. — W.  E.  Orchard. 

First  Week,  Fourth  Day 

Man  cannot  live  without  faith,  because  the  adventure  of 
life  demands  not  only  courage  to  achieve  but  patience  to 
endure  and  wait,  and  all  untroubled  patience  is  founded  on 
faith.  When  the  writer  to  the  Hebrews  speaks  of  those 
who  "through  faith  and  patience  inherit  the  promises"  (Heb. 
6:  12),  he  joins  two  things  that  in  experience  no  man  suc- 
cessfully can  separate.  By  as  much  as  we  need  patience,  we 
need  faith. 

But  call  to  remembrance  the  former  days,  in  which, 
after  ye  were  enlightened,  ye  endured  a  great  conflict  of 
sufferings;  partly,  being  made  a  gazingstock  both  by  re- 
proaches and  afflictions;  and  partly,  becoming  partakers 
with  them  that  were  so  used.  For  ye  both  had  compas- 
sion on  them  that  were  in  bonds,  and  took  joyfully  the 
spoiling  of  your  possessions,  knowing  that  ye  have  for 
yourselves  a  better  possession  and  an  abiding  one.  Cast 
not  away  therefore  your  boldness,  which  hath  great 
recompense  of  reward.  For  ye  have  need  of  patience, 

6 


FAITH  AND  LIFE'S  ADVENTURE  [I-s] 

that    having  done  the  will  of  God,  ye   may  receive  the 
promise. — Heb.  10:  32-36. 

The  most  difficult  business  in  the  world  is  waiting.  There 
are  times  in  every  life  when  action,  however  laborious  and 
sacrificial,  would  be  an  unspeakable  relief;  but  to  sit  still 
because  necessity  constrains  us,  endeavoring  to  live  out  the 
admonition  of  the  psalmist,  "Rest  in  the  Lord,  and  wait 
patiently  for  him,"  is  prodigiously  difficult.  No  one  can  do 
it  li'ithout  some  kind  of  faith.  "In  your  patience,"  said  Jesus, 
"ye  shall  win  your  souls"  (Luke  21 :  19),  but  such  an  achieve- 
ment is  no  affair  of  logic  or  scientific  demonstration;  it  is 
a  venture  of  triumphant  faith.  The  great  believers  have  been 
the  unwearied  waiters ;  faith  meant  to  them  not  controversial 
opinion,  but  sustaining  power.  As  another  has  phrased  it, 
"Our  faculties  of  belief  were  not  primarily  given  to  us  to 
make  orthodoxies  and  heresies  withal ;  they  were  given  us  to 
live  by." 

We  beseech  of  Thee,  O  Lord  our  God,  that  Thou  wilt 
grant  to  every  one  of  us  in  Thy  presence,  this  morning,  the 
special  mercies  which  he  needs — strength  where  weakness 
prevails,  and  patience  where  courage  has  failed.  Grant,  we 
pray  Thee,  that  those  who  need  long-suffering  may  find  them- 
selves strangely  upborne  and  sustained.  Grant  that  those  who 
wander  in  doubt  and  darkness  may  feel  distilling  upon  their 
soul  the  sweet  influence  of  faith.  Grant  that  those  who  are 
heart-weary,  and  sick  from  hope  deferred,  may  find  the  God 
of  all  salvation.  Confirm  goodness  in  those  that  are  seeking 
it.  Restore,  we  pray  Thee,  those  who  have  wandered  from 
the  path  of  rectitude.  Give  every  one  honesty.  May  all  trans- 
gressors of  Thy  law  return  to  the  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of 
their  souls  with  confession  of  sin,  and  earnest  and  sincere 
repentance.  Amen. — Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

First  Week,  Fifth  Day 

Man  cannot  live  without  faith  because  he  exists  in  a  uni- 
verse, the  complete  explanation  of  which  is  forever  beyond 
his  grasp,  so  that  whatever  he  thinks  about  the  total  meaning 
of  creation  is  fundamentally  faith. 

By    faith    we    understand   that    the    worlds   have   been 

7 


[1-5]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

framed  by  the  word  of  God,  so  that  what  is  seen  hath 
not  been  made  out  of  things  which  appear. — Heb.  n:  3. 

Not  only  is  this  true,  but  if  we  think  that  there  is  no  God, 
that  also  is  faith ;  and  if  we  hold  that  the  basic  reality  is 
physical  atoms,  that  is  faith ;  and  whatever  anybody  believes 
about  the  origin  and  destiny  of  life  is  faith.  When  Haeckel 
says  that  the  creator  is  "Cosmic  Ether,"  and  when  John  says 
that  "God  is  love,"  they  both  are  making  a  leap  of  faith. 
This  does  not  mean  that  faith  can  dispense  with  reason.  In 
these  studies  we  shall  set  ourselves  to  marshal  the  ample 
.arguments  that  support  man's  faith  in  God.  But  when  the 
utmost  that  argument  can  do  has  been  achieved,  the  finite 
mind,  dealing  with  the  infinite  reality,  is  forced  to  a  sally 
•  of  faith,  a  venture  of  confidence  in  Goodness  at  the  heart 
of  the  world,  not  opposed  to  reason  but  surpassing  reason. 
Faith  always  sees  more  with  her  eye  than  logic  can  reach 
with  her  hand.  And  especially  when  men  come  to  the  highest 
thought  of  life's  meaning  and  believe  in  the  Christian  God, 
they  face  the  fact  which  the  writer  to  the  Hebrews  presents : 

And  without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  be  well-pleasing 
unto  him;  for  he  that  cometh  to  God  must  believe  that 
he  is,  and  that  he  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  seek  after 
him. — Heb.  n:  6. 

Indeed,  in  all  stout  conviction  about  the  meaning  of  life 
there  is  a  certain  defiant  note,  refusing  to  surrender  to  small 
objections.  Cried. Stevenson,  "I  believe  in  an  ultimate  decency 
of  things ;  ay,  and  if  I  woke  in  hell,  should  still  believe  it !" 

O  Thou  Infinite  Spirit,  who  ncedest  no  words  for  man  to 
hold  his  converse  with  Thee,  we  would  enter  into  Thy  pres- 
ence, we  would  reverence  Thy  power,  we  would  worship  Thy 
wisdom,  we  would  adore  Thy  justice,  we  would  be  gladdened 
by  Thy  love,  and  blessed  by  our  communion  with  Thee.  We 
know  that  Thou  necdest  no  sacrifice  at  our  hands,  nor  any 
offering  at  our  lips;  yet  we  live  in  Thy  world,  we  taste  Thy 
bounty,  we  breathe  Thine  air,  and  Thy  power  sustains  us, 
Thy  justice  guides,  Thy  goodness  preserves,  and  Thy  love 
blesses  us  forever  and  ever.  O  Lord,  we  cannot  fail  to  praise 
Thee,  though  we  cannot  praise  Thee  as  we  would.  We  bow 
our  faces  down  before  Thee  with  humble  hearts,  and  in  Thy 
presence  would  warm  our  spirits  for  a  while,  that  the  better 

8 


FAITH  AND  LIFE'S  ADVENTURE  [1-6] 

we  may  be  prepared  for  the  duties  of  life,  to  endure  its  trials, 
to  bear  its  crosses,  and  to  triumph  in  its  lasting  joys.  .  .  . 

In  times  of  darkness,  when  men  fail  before  Thee,  in  days 
t«.'/K-;;  men  of  high  degree  are  a  lie,  and  those  of  low  degree 
are  a  vanity,  teach  us,  O  Lord,  to  be  true  before  Thee,  not 
a  vanity,  but  soberness  and  manliness;  and  may  -we  keep  still 
our  faith  shining  in  the  midst  of  darkness,  the  beacon-light 
to  guide  us  over  stormy  seas  to  a  home  and  haven  at  last. 
Father,  gire  us  strength  for  our  daily  duty,  patience  for  our 
constant  or  unaccustomed  cross,  and  in  every  time  of  trial 
give  us  the  hope  that  sustains,  the  faith  that  wins  the  victory 
and  obtains  satisfaction  and  fulness  of  joy.  Amen. — Theodore 
Parker. 

First  Week,  Sixth  Day 

Man  cannot  live,  lacking  faith,  because  without  it  life's 
richest  experiences  go  unappropriated.  Opportunities  for 
friendship  lie  all  about  us,  but  only  by  trustful  self-giving 
can  they  be  enjoyed;  chances  to  serve  good  causes  con- 
tinually beckon  us,  but  one  must  have  faith  to  try ;  superior 
minds  offer  us  their  treasures,  but  to  avail  oneself  of  in- 
struction from  another  involves  teachable  humility.  A  man 
without  capacity  to  let  himself  go  out  to  other  men  in  friendly 
trust  or  to  welcome  new  illumination  on  his  thought  with 
grateful  faith  would  be  shut  out  from  the  priceless  treasures 
of  humanity.  A  certain  trustful  openheartedness,  a  willing- 
ness to  venture  in 'personal  relationship  and  in  attempts  at 
service  is  essential  to  a  rich  and  fruitful  life.  And  what  is 
true  of  man's  relationship  with  man  is  true  of  man's  relation- 
ship with  God.  So  Prof.  William  James,  of  Harvard,  states 
the  case :  "Just  as  a  man  who  in  a  company  of  gentlemen 
made  no  advances,  asked  a  warrant  for  every  concession,  and 
believed  no  one's  word  without  proof,  would  cut  himself 
off  by  such  churlishness  from  all  the  social  rewards  that  a 
more  trusting  spirit  would  earn — so  here,  one  who  should 
shut  himself  up  in  snarling  logicality  and  try  to  make  the 
gods  extort  his  recognition  willy-nilly,  or  not  get  it  at  all, 
might  cut  himself  off  forever  from  his  only  opportunity  of 
making  the  gods'  acquaintance."  Wherever  in  life  great 
spiritual  values  await  man's  appropriation,  only  faith  can 
appropriate  them. 


[1-7]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

Let  us  fear  therefore,  lest  haply,  a  promise  being  left  of 
entering  into  his  rest,  any  one  of  you  should  seem  to  have 
come  short  of  it.  For  indeed  we  have  had  good  tidings 
preached  unto  us,  even  as  also  they:  but  the  word  of  hear- 
ing did  not  profit  them,  because  it  was  not  united  by  faith 
with  them  that  heard! — Heb.  4:  i,  2. 

O  Infinite  Source  of  life  and  health  and  joy!  the  very  thought 
of  Thee  is  so  wonderful  that  in  this  thought  we  would  rest 
and  be  still.  Thou  art  Beauty  and  Grace  and  Truth  and 
Power.  Thou  art  the  light  of  every  heart  that  sees  Thee, 
the  life  of  every  soul  that  loves  Thee,  the  strength  of  every 
mind  that  seeks  Thee.  From  our  narroiv  and  bounded  world 
we  would  pass  into  Thy  greater  world.  From  our  petty  and 
miserable  selves  we  would  escape  to  Thee,  to  find  in  Thee  the 

power  and  the  freedom  of  a  larger  life We  recognize 

Thee  in  all  the  deeper  experiences  of  the  soul.  When  the 
conscience  utters  its  warning  voice,  when  the  heart  is  tender 
and  we  forgive  those  who  have  wronged  us  in  word  or  deed, 
when  we  feel  ourselves  upborne  above  time  and  place,  and 
know  ourselves  citizens  of  Thy  everlasting  Kingdom,  we 
realize,  O  Lord,  that  these  things,  while  they  are  in  us,  are 
not  of  us.  They  are  Thine,  the  work  of  Thy  Spirit  brooding 
upon  our  souls. 

Spirit  of  Holiness  and  Peace!  Search  all  our  motives;  try 
the  secret  places  of  our  souls;  set  in  the  light  any  evil  that 
may  lurk  within,  and  lead  us  in  the  way  everlasting.  Amen. 
— Samuel  McComb. 

First  Week,  Seventh  Day 

Man  cannot  live  without  faith,  because  in  life's  adventure 
the  central  problem  is  building  character.  Now,  character  is 
not  a  product  of  logic,  but  of  faith  in  ideals  and  of  sacri- 
ficial devotion  to  them.  What  is  becomes  only  the  starting 
point  of  a  campaign  for  what  ought  to  be,  and  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  that  campaign  what  ought  to  be  must  be  believed  in 
with  passionate  intensity.  Faith  of  some  sort,  therefore,  is 
necessarily  the  dynamic  of  character;  only  limp  and  ragged 
living  is  possible  without  faith;  and  the  greatest  characters 
are  girded  by  the  most  ample  faith  in  God  and  goodness. 
The  writer  to  the  Hebrews  saw  this  intimate  relationship 
between  quality  of  faith  and  quality  of  life,  and  challenged 

10 


FAITH  AND  LIFE'S  ADVENTURE  [I-;] 

his  readers  to  judge  the  Christian  faith  by  its  consequence 
in  character. 

Remember  them  that  had  the  rule  over  you,  men  that 
spake  unto  you  the  word  of  God;  and  considering  the  issue 
of  their  life,  imitate  their  faith. — Heb.  13:  7. 

Such  are  the  basic  elements  in  human  experience  that  make 
faith  necessary:  we  deal  with  a  future,  about  which  we  must 
think,  with  reference  to  which  we  must  act,  and  adventuring 
into  which  we  need  courage  and  patience;  this  venture  of 
life  takes  place  in  a  world  the  meaning  of  which  can  be 
grasped  only  by  a  leap  of  faith ;  and  in  this  venture  the  best 
treasures  of  the  spirit  are  obtainable  only  through  open- 
heartedness,  and  character  is  possible  only  to  men  of  resolute 
conviction.  Plainly  the  subject  to  whose  study  we  are  setting 
ourselves  is  no  affair  of  theoretical  interest  alone;  it  affects 
the  deepest  issues  of  life.  No  words  could  better  summarize 
this  vital  idea  of  faith  which  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
presents  than  Hartley  Coleridge's : 

"Think  not  the  faith  by  which  the  just  shall  live 
Is  a  dead  creed,  a  map  correct  of  heaven, 
Far  less  a  feeling,  fond  and  fugitive, 
A  thoughtless  gift,  withdrawn  as  soon  as  given. 
It  is  an  affirmation  and  an  act 
That  bids  eternal  truth  be  present  fact." 

How  great  are  the  mercies,  O  Lord  our  God,  -which  Thou 
hast  prepared  for  all  that  put  their  trust  in  Thee!  .  .  . 
Thou  hast  comfort  for  those  that  are  in  affliction;  Thou  hast 
strength  for  those  that  are  weak;  .  .  .  Thou  hast  all  bless- 
ings that  are  needed,  and  standcst  ready  to  be  all  things  to 
all,  and  in  all.  And  yet,  with  bread  enough  and  to  spare,  with 
raiment  abundant,  and  with  all  medicine,  how  many  are  there 
that  go  hungry,  and  naked,  and  sick,  and  destitute  of  all 
things!  We  desire,  O  Lord,  that  Thou  wilt,  to  all  Thine  other 
mercies,  add  that  gift  by  which  we  shall  trust  in  Thee — 
faith  that  works  by  love;  faith  that  abides  with  us;  faith 
that  transforms  material  things,  and  gives  them  to  us  in  their 
spiritual  meanings;  faith  that  illumines  the  world  by  a  light 
that  never  sets,  that  shines  brighter  than  the  day,  and  that 
clears  the  night  quite  out  of  our  experience.  This  is  the  por- 

II 


[I-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

tion  that  Thou  hast  provided  for  thy  people.  We  beseech 
of  Thee,  grant  us  this  faith,  that  shall  give  us  victory  over 
the  world  and  over  ourselves;  that  shall  make  us  valiant  in 
all  temptation  and  bring  us  off  conquerors  and  more  than 
conquerors  through  Him  that  loved  us.  Amen. — Henry  Ward 
Beecher. 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 


When  Donald  Hankey,  who  died  in  the  trenches  in  the 
Great  War,  said  that  "True  religion  is  betting  one's  life  that 
there  is  a  God,"  he  not  only  gave  expression  to  his  own  virile 
Christianity,  but  he  gave  a  good  description  of  all  effective 

(faith  whatsoever.  Faith  is  holding  reasonable  convictions, 
in  realms  beyond  the  reach  of  final  demonstration,  and,  as 
well,  it  is  thrusting  out  one's  life  upon  those  convictions  as 
though  they  were  surely  true.  Faith  is  vision  plus  valor. 

Our  study  may  well  begin  by  recognizing  that,  as  it  is 
exercised  in  the  religious  life,  such  faith  is  the  supreme  use 
of  an  attitude  which  we  are  employing  in  every  other  realm. 
No  man  can  live  without  vision  to  see  as  true  what  as  yet 
he  cannot  prove,  or  without  valor  to  act  on  the  basis  of  his 
insight.  Our  vocabulary  in  ordinary  relationships,  quite  as 
much  as  in  religion,  is  full  of  words  involving  faith.  I  be- 
lieve, I  feel  sure,  I  am  confident,  I  venture — such  phrases 
express  our  common  attitudes  in  work  and  thought.  Each 
day  we  act  on  reasonable  probabilities,  hold  convictions  not 
yet  verified,  take  risks  whose  outcome  we  cannot  know,  and 
trust  people  whom  we  have  barely  met.  We  may  pride  our- 
selves that  our  twentieth  century's  life  is  being  built  on 
scientifically  demonstrable  knowledge,  but  a  swift  review  of 
any  day's  experience  shows  how  indispensable  is  another  at- 
titude, without  which  our  verifiable  knowledge  would  be  an 
/  unused  instrument.  In  order  to  live  we  must  have  insight 
and  daring.  It  is  not  alone  the  just  who  live  by  faith ;  lack- 
ing it,  there  is  no  real  life  anywhere. 

To  be  sure,  we  may  not  leap  from  this  general  necessity 
of  faith  to  the  conclusion  that  therefore  our  religious  beliefs 
are  justified.  Many  men  use  faith  in  business  and  in  social 
life  who  cannot  find  their  way  to  convictions  about  God. 
But  our  desire  to  understand  faith's  meaning  is  quickened 

12 


FAITH  AND  LIFE'S \ADVENTURE  [I-c] 

when  we  see  how  indispensable  a  place  it  holds,  how  tre- 
mendous an  influence  it  wields,  whether  it  be  religiously 
applied  or  not.  All  sorts  of  human  enterprise  bear  witness 
to  its  unescapable  necessity.  Haeckel, -the  biologist,  describ- 
ing science's  method,  says :  "Scientific  faith  fills  the  gaps  in 
our  knowledge  of  natural  laws  with  temporary  hypotheses." 
Lincoln,  the  statesman,  entreating  the  people,  cries :  "Let  us 
have  faith  that  right  makes  might  and  in  that  faith  let  us 
to  the  end  dare  to  do  our  duty."  Stevenson,  the  invalid, 
trying  with  fortitude  to  bear  his  trial,  writes :  "Whether  on 
the  first  of  January  or  the  thirty-first  of  December,  faith  is 
a  good  word  to  end  on."  And  the  Master  states  the  substance 
of  religion  in  a  single  phrase:  "Have  faith  in  God"  (Mark 
ii  :  22).  Scientific  procedure,  social  welfare,  personal  quality, 
religion — the  applications  of  our  subject  are  as  wide  as  life. 
Vision  and  valor  are  the  dynamic  forces  in  all  achievement, 
intellectual  as  well  as  moral,  and  as  for  man's  spiritual  values 
and  satisfactions,  "It  is  faith  in  something,"  as  Oliver  Wen- 
dell Holmes  put  it,  "which  makes  life  worth  living." 

II 

One  major  reason  for  this  necessary  place  of  faith  in  our 
experience  is  clear.  Life  is  an  adventure  and  adventure  always 
demands  insight  and  daring.  That  "Chinese"  Gordon,  on  his 
hazardous  expedition  into  the  Soudan,  should  be  thrown  back 
on  undiscourageable  faith  in  himself,  in  the  justice  of  his 
cause,  in  the  bravery  of  his  men,  and  in  God ;  that  he  should 
even  speak  of  praying  his  boats  up  the  Nile,  seems  to  us 
natural ;  for  some  kind  of  faith  is  obviously  necessary  to  any 
great  adventure.  But  men  often  forget  that  all  ordinary 
living  is  essentially  adventurous  and  that  by  this  fact  the 
need  of  faith  is  woven  into  the  texture  of  every  human  life. 
It  is  an  amazing  adventure  to  be  born  upon  this  wandering 
island  in  the  sky  and  it  is  an  adventure  to  leave  it  when  death 
calls.  To  go  to  school,  to  make  friends,  to  marry,  to  rear 
children,  to  face  through  life  the  swift  changes  of  circum- 
stance that  no  man  can  certainly  predict  an  hour  ahead,  these 
are  all  adventures.  Each  new  day  is  an  hitherto  unvisited 
country,  which  we  enter,  like  Abraham  leaving  Ur  for  a 
strange  land,  "not  knowing  whither  he  went"  (Heb.  n:  8), 
and  every  New  Year  we  begin  a  tour  of  exploration  into 

13 


[I-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

a  twelvemonth  where  no  man's  foot  has  ever  walked  before. 
If  we  all  love  tales  of  pioneers,  it  is  because  from  the  time 
we  are  weaned  to  the  time  we  die,  life  is  pioneering.  Of 
course  we  cannot  live  by  verifiable  knowledge  only.  Imagine 
men,  equipped  with  nothing  but  powers  of  logical  demonstra- 
tion, starting  on  such  an  enterprise  as  the  title  of  Sebastian 
Cabot's  joint  stock  company  suggests:  "Merchants  Adven- 
turers of  England  for  the  discovery  of  lands,  territories,  isles 
and  seignories,  unknown." 

Indeed  no  knowkdge  of  the  sort  that  our  scientific  induc- 
tions can  achieve  ever  will  take  from  life  this  adventurous 
element.  Scientific  knowledge  in  these  latter  decades  has 
grown  incalculably;  yet  for  all  that,  every  child's  life  is  a 
hazardous  experiment,  every  boy  choosing  a  calling  takes  his 
chances,  every  friendship  is  a  risky  exploration  in  the  province 
of  personality,  and  all  devotion  to  moral  causes  is  just  as 
much  a  venturesome  staking  of  life  on  insight  and  hope  as 
it  was  when  Garrison  attacked  slavery  or  Livingstone  landed 
in  Africa.  To  one  who  had  acquired  not  only  all  extant  but 
all  possible  knowledge,  as  truly  as  to  any  man  who  ever  lived, 
life  would  be  full  of  hazard  still.  He  could  not  certainly 
know  in  advance  the  outcome  of  a  single  important  decision 
of  his  life.  He  could  not  at  any  moment  tell  in  what  new, 
strange,  challenging,  or  terrific  situation  the  next  hour  might 
find  him.  With  all  his  science,  he  must  face  each  day,  as 
Paul  faced  his  journey  to  Rome,  "not  knowing  the  things 
that  shall  befall  me  there"  (Acts  20:  22). 

The  reason  for  this  is  obvious.  Our  systematized  knowl- 
edge is  the  arrangement  under  laws  of  the  experiences  which 
we  have  already  had.  It  furnishes  invaluable  aid  in  guiding  the 
experiments  and  explorations  which  life  continuously  forces 
on  us.  In  every  enterprise,  however,  we  must  use  not  only 
legs  to  stand  on,  but  tentacles  as  well  with  which  to  feel  our 
way  forward — intuitions,  insights,  hopes,  unverified  convic- 
tions, faith.  We  project  our  life  forward  as  we  build  a 
cantilever  bridge.  Part  of  the  structure  is  solidly  bolted  and 
thoroughly  articulated  in  a  system ;  but  ever  beyond  this 
established  portion  we  audaciously  thrust  out  new  begin- 
nings in  eager  expectation  that  from  the  other  side  something 
will  come  to  meet  them.  Without  this  no  progress  ever  would 
be  possible. 

Every  province  of  life  illustrates  this  necessity  of  adven- 

14 


FAITH  AND  LIFE'S  ADVENTURE  [I-c] 

ture.  In  science,  the  established  body  of  facts  and  laws  is 
only  the  civilized  community  of  knowledge  from  whose 
frontiers  new  guesses  and  intuitions  start.  Says  Sir  Oliver 
Lodge  about  the  great  Newton :  "He  had  an  extraordinary  -  ^ 
faculty  for  guessing  correctly,  sometimes  with  no  apparent 
data — as  for  instance,  his  intuition  that  the  mean  density  of 
the  earth  was  probably  between  five  and  six  times  that  of 
water,  while  we  now  know  it  is  really  about  five  and  one 
half."  In  personal  character,  our  habits  are  basic,  but  our 
ideals  in  which,  despite  ourselves,  we  must  believe,  are 
pioneers  that  push  out  into  new  territory  and  call  our  habits 
after  them  to  conquer  the  promised  land.  In  social  advance, 
some  Edmund  Burke,  statesman  of  the  first  magnitude,  bas- 
ing his  judgment  on  the  established  experience  of  the  race, 
can  call  slavery  an  incurable  evil  and  say  that  there  is  not 
the  slightest  hope  that  trade  in  slaves  can  be  stopped ;  and 
yet  within  eighty-two  years  the  race  can  feel  its  way  forward 
to  Lincoln's  Emancipation  Proclamation.  As  for  daily  busi- 
ness, adventurous  daring  is  there  the  very  nerve  of  enterprise. 
Says  a  modern  newspaper  man :  "There  are  plenty  of  people 
to  do  the  possible ;  you  can  hire  them  at  forty  dollars  a 
month.  The  prizes  are  for  those  who  perform  the  impos- 
sible. If  a  thing  can  be  done,  experience  and  skill  can  do 
it ;  if  a  thing  cannot  be  done,  only  faith  can  do  it."  Great 
in  human  life  is  this  adventurous  element,  and,  therefore, 
great  in  human  life  is  the  necessity  of  faith.  To  chasten  and 
discipline,  to  make  reasonable  and  stable  the  faiths  by  which 
we  live  is  a  problem  unsurpassed  in  importance  for  every 
man. 

Ill 

One  result  of  special  interest  follows  from  this  truth.  It 
is  commonly  suspected  that  as  mankind  advances,  the  func- 
tion of  faith  proportionately  shrinks.  It  is  even  supposed  that 
the  place  of  faith  in  human  life  has  sensibly  diminished  with 
our  growing  knowledge,  and  that  Matthew  Arnold  told  the 
truth : 

"The  sea  of  faith 

Was  once,  too,  at  the  full,  and  round  earth's  shore 
Lay  like  the  folds  of  a  bright  girdle  furl'd. 
But  now  I  only  hear 

15 


[I-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

Its  melancholy,  long,  withdrawing  roar, 
Retreating,  to  the  breath 

Of  the  night-wind,  down  the  vast  edges  drear 
And  naked  shingles  of  the  world." 

Accordingly  by  custom  we  call  the  mediaeval  centuries  the 
"Age  of  Faith."  But  even  a  cursory  comparison  between  the 
mediaeval  people  and  ourselves  reveals  that  among  the  many 
differences  that  distinguish  us  from  them,  none  is  more  marked 
than  the  diversity  and  range  of  our  faiths.  One  considers 
in  surprise  the  things  which  they  did  not  believe.  That  the 
world  would  ever  grow  much  better,  that  social  abuses  like 
political  tyranny  and  slavery  could  be  radically  changed,  that 
man  could  ever  master  nature  by  his  inventions  until  her 
mighty  forces  were  his  servants,  that  the  whole  race  could 
be  reached  for  Christ,  that  war  could  be  abolished  and  human 
brotherhood  in  some  fair  degree  established,  that  common 
men  could  be  trusted  with  responsibility  for  their  own  gov- 
ernment or  with  freedom  to  worship  God  according  to  the 
dictates  of  their  own  consciences — none  of  these  things  did 
the  mediaeval  folk  believe.  One  of  the  most  distinguishing 
characteristics  of  the  so-called  "Age  of  Faith"  was  its  lack 
of  faith.  It  lived  in  a  static  world ;  it  was  poor  in  pos- 
sibilities except  in  heaven ;  it  pitiably  lacked  those  most  cer- 
tain signs  of  vital  faith,  the  open  mind  eager  for  new  truth 
and  the  ardent,  vigorous  life  seeking  new  conquests.  In 
comparison  with  such  an  age  our  generation's  faiths  are  rich 
s-&nd  manifold.  To  call  our  time  an  "Age  of  Doubt"  be- 
cause of  its  free  spirit  of  critical  inquiry,  is  seriously  to  mis- 
N  understand  its  major  drift.  Bunyan's  Pilgrim  found  Doubt- 
ing Castle  kept  by  Giant  Despair  and  his  wife  Diffidence  and 
in  any  Doubting  Castle  these  two  always  dwell..  But  who, 
considering  our  generation's  life  as  a  whole,  would  call  it 
diffident  or  desperate?  It  is  rather  robust  and  confident;  its 
social  faiths,  at  least,  are  unprecedented  in  their  sweep  and 
certainty.  Even  the  Great  War  is  the  occasion  of  such 
organized  faith  in  a  federated  and  fraternal  world  as  man- 
kind has  never  entertained  before. 

The  truth  is  that. with  the  progress  of  the  race  the  adven- 
ture of  life  is  elevated  and  enlarged,  and  in  consequence 
faith  grows  not  less  but  more  necessary.  The  /aiV/tj  of  a 
savage  are  meager  compared  with  a  modern  man's.  The 

16 


l-'.UTH  A.\D  LIFE'S  ADVENTURE  [I-c] 

Australian  bushman  never  dreams  of  laboring  for  social  ideals 
even  a  few  years  ahead.  What  can  he  know  of  those  superb 
faiths  in  economic  justice  and  international  brotherhood, 
which  even  in  the  face  of  overwhelming  difficulty,  master 
the  best  of  modern  men?  The  primitive  mind  was  not'' 
curious  enough  to  wonder  whether  the  sun  that  rises  in  the 
morning  was  the  same  that  set  the  night  before.  What  could 
such  a  mind  understand  of  modern  science's  faith  in  the  uni- 
versal regularity  of  law?  Put  a  Moro  head  hunter  beside 
Mr.  Edison,  and  see  how  incalculable  the  difference  between 
them,  not  simply  in  their  knowledge,  but  in  their  faith  as  to 
what  it  is  possible  for  humanity  to  do  with  nature !  Or  put 
a  fetish  worshipper  from  Africa  beside  Phillips  Brooks  and 
compare  the  faith  of  the  one  in  his  idol  with  the  faith  of  the 

other  in   God.     Faith   does   not  dwindle   as   wisdom   grows ; 

vision  and  valor  are  not  less  important.  The  difference  bc- 
tii.'Ci-n  the  twentieth  century  man  and  the  savage  is  quite  as 
much  in  the  scope  and  quality  of  their  faith  as  in  the  range 
and  certainty  of  their  knowledge. 

Faith,  therefore  is  not  a  transient  element  in  human  life,  to 
be  evicted  by  growing  science.  For  whatever  life  may  know, 
life  is  adventure;  and  as  the  adventure  widens  its  horizons, 
the  demand  for  faith  is  correspondingly  increased.  If  one 
tries  to  imagine  the  world  with  all  faith  gone — knowledge 
supposedly  having  usurped  its  place — he  must  conceive  a 
world  where  no  conscious  life  and  effort  remain  at  all. 
Take  trust  in  testimony  away  from  courts  of  law,  and  un- 
sure experiments  from  the  physician's  practice ;  refuse  the 
teacher  his  confidence  in  growing  minds  and  the  business  man 
his  right  to  ventures  that  involve  uncertainty;  abstract  from 
civic  reforms  all  faith  in  a  better  future,  from  science  all 
unproved  postulates,  from  society  all  mutual  trust  and  from 
religion  all  belief  in  the  Unseen,  and  life  would  become  an 
"inane  sand  heap."  A  man  who  tries  to  live  without  faith  . 
will  die  of  inertia.  A  society  that  makes  the  attempt  will  be 
paralyzed  within  an  hour.  The  question  is  not  whether  or 
no  we  shall  live  by  faith.  The  question  is  rather — By  what 
faiths  shall  we  live?  What  range  and  depth  and  quality  shall 
they  have?  How  reasonable  and  how  assured  shall  they  be? 

IV 

Among  all  the  faiths  which  mankind  has  cherished  and  by 

17 


[I-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

which  it  has  been  helped  in  life's  adventure,  none  have  been 
more  universally  and  more  passionately  held  than  those  asso- 
ciated with  religion/  In  the  daring  experiment  of  living,  men 
naturally  have  sought  by  faith  interpretation  not  only  of 
life's  details  but  of  life  itself — its  origin,  its  meaning,  and 
its  destiny.  Australian  bushmen,  unable  to  count  above  four 
on  their  fingers,  have  been  heard  discussing  in  their  huts  at 
night  whence  they  came,  whither  they  go,  and  who  the  gods 
are  anyway.  And  when  one  turns  to  modern  manhood  in  its 
finest  exhibitions  of  intelligence  and  character,  he  sees  that 
Professor  Ladd,  of  Yale,  speaks  truly:  "The  call  of  the 
world  of  men  today,  which  is  most  insistent  and  most  intense, 
if  not  most  loud  and  clamorous,  is  the  call  for  a  rehabilitation 
of  religious  faith." 

For  it  does  make  a  prodigious  difference  to  the  spirit  of 
our  adventure  in  this  world,  whether  we  think  that  God  is 
good  or  on  the  other  hand  see  the  universe  as  Carlyle's 
terrific  figure  pictures  it — "one  huge,  dead,  immeasurable 
Steam-engine,  rolling  on,  in  its  dead  indifference,  to  grind  me 
limb  from  limb."  It  does  make  a  difference  of  quite  in- 
calculable magnitude  whether  we  think  that  our  minds  and 
characters  are  an  evanescent  product  of  finely  wrought  matter 
which  alone  is  real  and  permanent,  or  on  the  contrary  with 
John  believe  that  "Now  are  we  children  of  God  and  it  is 
not  yet  made  manifest  what  we  shall  be"  (i  John  3:2). 

How  great  a  difference  in  life's  adventure  religious  faith 
does  make  is  better  set  forth  by  concrete  example  than  by 
abstract  argument.  On  the  one  side,  how  radiant  the  spirit 
of  the  venture  as  the  New  Testament  depicts  it !  The  stern, 
appealing  love  of  God  behind  life,  his  good  purpose  through 
it,  his  victory  ahead  of  it,  and  man  a  fellow  worker,  called 
into  an  unfinished  world  to  bear  a  hand  with  God  in  its  com- 
pletion— here  is  a  game  that  indeed  is  worth  the  candle. 
On  the  other  side  is  Bertrand  Russell's  candid  disclosure 
of  the  consequences  of  his  own  scepticism :  "Brief  and  power- 
less is  man's  life ;  on  him  and  all  his  race  the  slow  sure  doom 
falls  pitiless  and  dark.  Blind  to  good  and  evil,  reckless  of 
destruction,  omnipotent  matter  rolls  on  its  relentless  way ; 
for  Man  condemned  today  to  lose  his  dearest,  tomorrow  him- 
self to  pass  through  the  gate  of  darkness,  it  remains  only 
to  cherish,  ere  yet  the  blow  falls,  the  lofty  thoughts  that 
ennoble  his  little  day — proudly  defiant  of  the  irresistible 

18 


FAITH  AND  LIFE'S  ADVENTURE  [I-c], 

forces  that  tolerate  for  a  moment  his  knowledge  and  his 
condemnation,  to  sustain  alone,  a  weary  but  unyielding  Atlas, 
the  world  that  his  own  ideals  have  fashioned  despite  the 
trampling  march  of  unconscious  power." 

Man's  life,  interpreted  and  motived  by  religious  faith,  is 
glorious,  but  shorn  of  faith's  interpretations  life  loses  its  high- 
est meaning  and  its  noblest  hopes.  Let  us  make  this  state- 
ment's truth  convincing  in  detail. 

When  faith  in  God  goes,  man  the  thinker  loses  his  great- 
est thought.  Man's  mind  has  ranged  the  universe,  has  woven 
atoms  and  stars  into  a  texture  of  law ;  his  conquering  thoughts 
ride  out  into  every  unknown  province  of  which  they  hear. 
But  among  all  the  ideas  on  which  the  mind  of  man  has  taken 
hold,  incomparably  the  greatest  is  the  idea  of  God.  In  sheer 
weight  and  range  no  other  thought  of  man  compares  with 
that.  Amid  the  crash  of  stars,  the  reign  of  law,  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  human  history,  and  the  griefs  that  drive  their  plough- 
shares into  human  hearts,  to  gather  up  all  existence  into 
spiritual  unity  and  to  believe  in  God,  is  the  sublimest  venture 
of  the  human  mind. 

When  faith  in  God  goes,  man  the  -worker  loses  his  greatest 
motive.  Man  masters  nature  until  the  forces  that  used  to  scare 
him  now  obey;  in  society  he  labors  tirelessly  that  his  chil- 
dren may  have  a  better  world.  Wars  come,  destroying  the 
achievements  of  ages ;  yet  when  war  is  over,  man  rebuilds 
his  cities,  recreates  his  commerce,  dreams  again  his  human 
brotherhoods,  and  toils  on.  Many  motives,  deep  and  shallow, 
fine  and  coarse,  have  sustained  him  in  this  tireless  work,  but 
when  one  seeks  the  fountain  of  profoundest  hope  in  man- 
kind's toil  he  finds  it  in  religious  faith.  To  believe  that  we 
do  not  stand  alone,  hopelessly  pitted  against  the  dead  apathy 
of  cosmic  forces  which  in  the  end  will  crush  us  in  some  solar 
wreck  and  bring  our  work  to  naught ;  to  believe  that  we  are 
fellow-laborers  with  God,  our  human  purposes  comprehended 
in  a  Purpose,  God  behind  us,  within  us,  ahead  of  us — this 
incomparably  has  been  the  master-faith  in  man's  greatest 
work. 

When  faith  in  God  goes,  man  the  sinner  loses  his  strong- 
est help.  For  man  is  a  sinner.  He  tears  his  spiritual  heritage 
to  shreds  in  licentiousness  and  drink.  He  wallows  in  vice, 
wins  by  cruelty,  violates  love,  is  treacherous  to  trust.  His 
sins  clothe  the  world  in  lamentation.  Yet  in  him  is  a  protest 

19 


JI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

that  he  cannot  stifle.  He  is  the  only  creature  whom  we 
know  whose  nature  is  divided  against  itself.  He  hates  his 
sin  even  while  he  commits  it.  He  repents,  tries  again,  falls, 
rises,  stumbles  on — and  in  all  his  best  hours  cries  out  for 
saviorhood.  No  message  short  of  religion  has  ever  met 
man's  need  in  this  estate.  That  God  himself  is  pledged  to 
the  victory  of  righteousness  in  men  and  in  the  world,  that 
he  cares,  forgives,  enters  into  man's  struggle  with  trans- 
forming power,  and  crowns  the  long  endeavor  with  tri- 
umphant character — such  faith  alone  has  been  great  enough 
to  meet  the  needs  of  man  the  sinner. 

When  faith  in  God  goes,  man  the  sufferer  loses  his  securest 
refuge.  One  who  has  walked  with  families  through  long 
illnesses  where  desperate  prayers  rise  like  a  fountain  day 
and  night,  who  has  seen  strong  men  break  down  in  health 
or  Iflse  the  fortune  of  a  lifetime,  who  has  stood  at  children's 
graves  and  heard  mothers  cry,  "How  empty  are  my  arms !" 
does  not  need  long  explication  of  life's  tragic  suffering.  The 
staggering  blows  shatter  the  hopes  of  good  and  bad  alike. 
Whether  one's  house  be  built  on  rock  or  sand,  on  both,  as 
Jesus  said,  the  rains  descend  and  the  floods  come  and  the 
winds  blow.  In  this  experience  of  crushing  trouble  nothing 
but  religious  faith  has  been  able  to  save  men  from  despair 
or  from  stoical  endurance  of  their  fate.  To  face  the  loom 
of  life  and  hopefully  to  lay  oneself  upon  it,  as  though  the 
dark  threads  were  as  necessary  in  the  pattern  as  the  light 
ones  are,  we  must  believe  that  there  is  a  purpose  running 
through  the  stern,  forbidding  process.  What  men  have 
needed  most  of  all  in  suffering,  is  not  to  know  the  explanation, 
but  to  know  that  there  is  an  explanation.  And  religious  faith 
valone  gives  confidence  that  human  tragedy  is  not  the  mean- 
ingless sport  of  physical  forces,  making  our  life  what  Voltaire 
called  it,  "a  bad  joke,"  but  is  rather  a  school  of  discipline, 
the  explanation  of  whose  mysteries  is  in  the  heart  of  God. 
No  one  who  has  lived  deeply  can  ever  call  such  faith  a  "mat- 
ter of  words  and  names."  To  multitudes  it  is  a  matter  of 
life  and  death. 

When  faith  in  God  goes,  man  the  lover  loses  his  fairest 
vision.  When  we  say  our  worst  about  mankind,  this  redeem- 
ing truth  remains,  that  each  of  us  has  some  one  for  whose 
sake  he  willingly  would  die.  The  very  love  lyrics  of  the  race 
are  proof  of  this  human  quality,  from  homely  folk  songs  like 

20 


FAITH  AND  LIFE'S  ADVENTURE  [I-c] 

"John  Anderson,  My  Jo,  John"  to  great  poetry  like  Mrs. 
Browning's  sonnets.  We  call  them  secular,  but  they  are 
ineffably  sacred/  And  when  one  seeks  the  faith  that  has  made 
these  loves  of  men  radiant  with  an  illumination  which  man 
alone  cannot  create,  he  finds  it  in  religion.  Love  is  not  a 
transient  fragrance  from  matter  finely  organized — so  men 
have  dared  believe ;  love  is  of  kin  with  the  Eternal,  has  there 
its  source  and  ground  and  destiny;  love  is  the  very  substance 
of  reality.  "God  is  love,  and  he  that  abideth  in  love,  abideth 
in  God,  and  God  abideth  in  him"  (i  John  4:  16).  Man  the 
lover  is  bereft  of  his  finest  insight  and  love's  inner  glory 
has  departed,  when  that  faith  has  gone. 

When  faith  in  God  goes,  man  the  mortal  loses  his  only 
hope.  Man's  nature,  like  a  lighthouse,  combines  two  elements. 
At  the  foundation  of  the  beacon  all  is  stone;  as  one  lifts 
his  eyes,  all  is  stone  still ;  but  at  the  top  is  something  new  and 
wonderful.  It  is  the  thing  for  which  the  rock  was  piled. 
Its  laws  are  not  the  laws  of  stone  nor  are  its  ways  the  same. 
For  while  the  stolid  rock  stands  fast,  this  miracle  of  light 
with  speed  incredible  hurls  itself  out  across  the  sea.  Two 
worlds  are  here,  the  one  cold  and  stationary,  the  other  full 
of  the  marvel  and  mystery  of  fire.  So  man  has  in  him  a 
miracle  which  he  cannot  explain ;  he  "feels  that  he  is  greater 
than  he  knows" ;  and  he  never  has  been  able  to  believe  that 
the  mystery  of  spirit  was  given  him  in  vain,  had  no  reality 
from  which  it  came,  and  no  future  beyond  death.  The  finest 
thing  ever  said  of  Columbus  is  a  remark  of  his  own  country- 
man, "The  instinct  of  an  unknown  continent  burned  in  him." 
That  is  the  secret  of  Columbus'  greatness.  All  the  arguments 
by  which  he  attempted  to  convince  the  doubters  were  but 
afterthoughts  of  this;  all  the  labors  by  which  he  endeavored 
to  make  good  his  hopes  were  but  its  consequence.  And  if  we 
ask  of  man  why  so  universally  he  has  believed  in  life  to 
come,  the  answer  leaps  not  superficially  from  the  mind,  but 
out  of  the  basic  intuitions  of  man's  life.  We  know  that 
something  is  now  ours  which  ought  not  to  die;  the  instinct 
of  an  unknown  continent  burns  in  us.  But  all  the  hopes, 
the  motives,  the  horizons  that  immortality  has  given  man 
must  go,  if  faith  in  God  departs.  In  a  godless  world  man 
dies  forever. 

One,  therefore,  who  is  facmg  loss  of  faith  may  not  regard 
it  as  a  light  affair.  To  be  sure,  some  denials  of  religion,  even 

21 


[I-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

a  Christian  must  respect.  Huxley,  for  example,  at  the  death 
of  his  little  boy,  wanting  to  believe  in  immortality  as  only 
a  father  can  whose  son  lies  dead,  yet,  for  all  that,  disbeliev- 
ing, wrote  to  Charles  Kingsley,  "I  have  searched  over  the 
grounds  of  my  belief,  and  if  wife  and  child  and  name  and 
fame  were  all  to  be  lost  to  me  one  after  another  as  the 
penalty,  still  I  will  not  lie."  One  respects  that.  When  George 
John  Romanes  turned  his  back  for  a  while  on  the  Christian 
faith,  he  wrote  out  of  his  agnosticism,  "When  at  times  I 
think,  as  think  at  times  I  must,  of  the  appalling  contrast  be- 
tween the  hallowed  glory  of  that  creed  which  once  was 
mine,  and  the  lonely  mystery  of  existence  as  now  I  find  it — 
at  such  times  I  shall  ever  feel  it  impossible  to  avoid  the 
sharpest  pang  of  which  my  nature  is  susceptible."  One  re- 
spects that.  But  some  discard  religion  from  their  life's 
adventure  with  no  such  serious  understanding  of  the  import 
of  their  denial.  They  are  pert  disbelievers.  They  toss  faith 
facilely  aside  in  a  light  mood.  Such  frivolous  sceptics  indict 
their  own  intelligence.  Whoever  discards  religious  faith 
should  appoint  a  day  of  mourning  for  his  soul,  and  put  on 
sackcloth  and  ashes.  He  must  take  from  his  life  the  greatest 
thought  that  man  the  thinker  ever  had,  the  finest  faith  that 
man  the  worker  ever  leaned  upon,  the  surest  help  that  man 
the  sinner  ever  found,  the  strongest  reliance  that  man  the 
sufferer  ever  trusted  in,  the  loftiest  vision  that  man  the 
lover  ever  saw,  and  the  only  hope  that  man  the  mortal  ever 
had.  So  he  must  deny  his  faith  in  God.  Before  one  thus 
leaves  himself  bereft  of  the  faith  that  makes  life's  adventure 
most  worth  while  he  well  may  do  what  Carlyle,  under  the 
figure  of  Teufelsdrockh,  says  that  he  did  in  his  time  of 
doubt:  "In  the  silent  night-watches,- still  darker  in  his  heart 
than  over  sky  and  earth,  he  has  cast  himself  before  the  All- 
,  seeing,  and  with  audible  prayers  cried  vehemently  for  Light." 


If  minimizing  the  importance  of  religious  faith  is  unin- 
telligent, so  is  avoiding  some  sort  of  decision  about  religious 
faith  impossible.  Most  of  those  into  whose  hands  these 
studies  fall  will  grant  readily  faith's  incalculable  importance. 
Some,  however,  will  be  not  helped  but  plunged  into  deeper 
trouble  by  their  consent.  For  they  feel  themselves  unable 


FAITH  AND  LIFE'S  ADVENTURE  [I-cJ 

to  decide  about  a  matter  which  they  acknowledge  to  be  the 
most  important  in  the  world.  Asked  whether  they  believe 
in  God,  they  would  reply  with  one  of  Victor  Hugo's  charac- 
ters, "Yes — No — Sometimes."  They  grant  that  to  be  steadily 
assured  of  God  would  be  an  invaluable  boon,  but  for  them- 
selves, how  can  they  balance  the  opposing  arguments  and 
find  their  way  to  confidence?  All  our  studies  are  intended 
for  the  help  of  such,  but  at  the  beginning  one  urgent  truth 
may  well  be  plainly  put.  However  undecided  they  may  appear, 
men  cannot  altogether  avoid  decision  on  the  main  matters 
of  religion.  Life  will  not  let  them.  For  while  the  mind  may 
hold  itself  suspended  between  alternatives,  the  adventure  of 
life  goes  on,  and  men  inevitably  tend  to  live  either  as  though 
the  Christian  God  were  real  or  as  though  he  were  not. 

Some  questions  allow  a  complete  postponement  of  decision. 
As  to  which  of  several  theories  about  the  Northern  Lights 
may  be  true,  a  man  can  hold  his  judgment  in  entire  suspense. 
Life  does  not  require  from  him  any  action  that  depends  on 
what  he  thinks  of  the  Aurora  Borealis ;  and  whether  a  man 
think  one  thing  or  another,  no  conceivable  change  would  be 
the  consequence  in  anything  he  said  or  did.  But  there  is 
another  kind  of  question,  where,  however  much  the  mind  may 
waver  between  opinions  and  may  resolve  on  indecision,  life 
itself  compels  decision.  A  man  cannot  really  be  agnostic 
and  neutral  on  a  question  like  the  moral  law  of  sexual  purity, 
for,  by  an  irrevocable  necessity,  he  has  to  act  one  way  or  an- 
other. He  may  stop  thinking,  but  he  cannot  stop  living.  With 
tremendous  urgency  the  adventure  of  life  insistently  goes  on, 
and  it  never  pauses  for  any  man  to  make  up  his  mind  on 
any  question.  Therefore  while  a  man  may  theoretically  sus- 
pend his  judgment  as  to  the  requirements  of  the  moral  law, 
his  life  will  be  a  loud,  convincing  advertisement  to  all  who 
know  him  that  he  has  vitally  decided.  A  man  can  avoid  mak- 
ing up  his  mind,  but  he  cannot  avoid  making  up  his  life. 

Quite  as  truly,  though,  it  may  be,  not  quite  as  obviously, 
religious  questions  belong  to  this  second  class.  Not  all  ques- 
tions that  are  called  religious  belong  there.  With  fatal  petti- 
ness religious  men  have  reduced  the  great  faiths  to  technicali- 
ties and  some  beliefs  called  religious  a  man  may  hold  or 
not,  with  utter  indifference  to  anything  he  is  or  does.  But 
on  the  basic  attitudes  of  religion  such  as  we  have  just  re- 
hearsed, a  man  cannot  be  completely  neutral,  no  matter  how 

23 


[I-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

he  tries.  Bernard  Shaw's  remark,  "What  a  man  believes  may 
be  ascertained  not  from  his  creed,  but  from  the  assumptions 
on  which  he  habitually  acts,"  should  be  taken  to  heart  by 
any  one  trying  to  remain  religiously  neutral.  For  one  cannot 
by  any  possibility  avoid  "assumptions  on  which  he  habitually 
acts."  He  tends  to  undertake  social  service  either  as  con- 
fident cooperation  with  God's  purpose  or  as  an  endeavor  to 
make  one  corner  of  an  unpurposed  world  as  decent  as  pos- 
sible. He  tends  to  follow  his  ideals,  either  as  the  voice  of 
God  calling  him  upward,  or  as  the  work  of  natural  selection, 
adjusting  him  to  a  temporary  environment.  He  tends  to  face 
suffering  either  hopefully  as  a  school  of  moral  discipline,  in 
a  world  presided  over  by  a  Father,  or  grimly  as  a  hardship 
in  which  there  is  no  meaning.  He  tends  to  face  death  either 
as  the  supreme  adventure,  full  of  boundless  hope,  or  as  a 
final  exit  that  leads  nowhere.  He  may  never  consciously 
formulate  his  ideas  on  any  of  these  matters,  he  may  main- 
tain an  intellectual  agnosticism,  genuine  and  complete,  but 
his  living  subtly  involves  the  confession  of  some  faith.  "A 
man's  action,"  said  Emerson,  "is  only  the  picture-book  of  his 
creed."  And  the  more  thoughtful  he  is,  the  more  he  will 
be  aware  of  that  unescapable  tendency  to  confess  in  his  liv- 
ing an  inward  faith  about  life. 

One  practical  result  of  this  urgent  truth  is  too  frequently 
seen  to  be  doubtful.  Those  who  in  religion  do  not  decide, 
thereby  decide  against  religion.  Religious  faith  is  a  positive 
achievement,  and  he  who  does  not  deliberately  choose  it, 
loses  it.  A  man  who,  rowing  down  Niagara  River,  debates 
within  himself  whether  or  not  he  will  stop  at  Buffalo,  and 
who  cannot  decide,  thereby  has  decided.  His  irresolution  has 
not  for  a  moment  interfered  with  the  steady  flow  of  the 
river,  and  if  he  but  debate  long  enough  concerning  his  stop 
at  Buffalo,  he  will  awake  to  discover  that  he  has  finally 
decided  not  to  stop  there.  As  much  beyond  the  control  of 
man's  volition  is  the  steady  flow  of  life.  It  pauses  for  no 
man's  indecision,  and  if  one  is  irresolute  about  any  positive, 
aspiring  faith  in  any  realm,  his  indecisiveness  is  decision  of 
a  most  final  sort. 

This,  then,  is  the  summary  of  the  matter.  Life  is  a  great 
adventure  in  which  faith  is  indispensable ;  in  this  adventure 
faith  in  God  presents  the  issues  of  transcendent  import ;  and 
on  these  issues  life  itself  continuously  compels  decision.  Our 

24 


FAITH  A\D  LITE'S  ADVEXTL'RE  [I-c] 

obligation  is  obvious — since  willy-nilly  the  decision  must  be 
made — to  make  it  consciously,  to  reach  it  by  reason,  not  by 
chance,  by  thinking,  not  by  drifting.  If  a  man  is  to  be 
irreligious,  let  him  at  least  know  why,  and  not  slip  into  this 
estate,  as  most  irreligious  men  do,  by  careless  living  and 
frivolous  thought.  If  a  man  is  to  be  religious,  let  him  have 
reason  for  his  choice;  let  his  faith  be  founded  not  on 
credulity  and  chance,  but  on  real  experience  and  reasonable 
thought.  So  his  faith  shall  be  good  not  only  fur  domestic 
consumption,  but  for  export  too — clear  in  his  own  mind  and 
convincing  to  his  friends.  The  forms  of  thought  shift  with 
the  centuries  and  old  situations  cannot  be  repeated  in  detail, 
but  one  crisis  in  its  essential  meaning  is  perennial:  "Elijah 
came  near  unto  all  the  people,  and  said.  How  long  go  ye  limp- 
ing between  the  two  sides?  if  Jehovah  be  God  follow  him; 
but  if  Baal  then  follow  him"  (i  Kings  18:  21). 


CHAPTER   II 

Faith  a  Road  to  Truth 

DAILY  READINGS 

Many  minds  are  prevented  from  even  a  fair  consideration 
of  religious  faith  by  prejudices  which  spring,  not  from  rea- 
soned argument,  but  from  practical  experience.  They  are 
biased  before  argument  has  begun ;  they  fee  I  that  faith  means 
credulity,  and  that  religious  faith  in  particular  is  a  surrender 
of  reason.  Before  we  positively  present  faith  as  an  indis- 
pensable means  of  dealing  with  reality  in  any  realm,  let  us, 
in  the  daily  readings,  consider  some  of  the  practical  experi- 
ences and  attitudes  that  thus  prejudice  men  against  religion. 

Second  Week,  First  Day 

Many  men  are  biased  in  advance  by  the  unwise  treatment 
to  which  in  their  childhood  they  were  subjected.  Paul  pic- 
tures the  home  life  of  Timothy  as  ideal: 

I  thank  God,  whom  I  serve  from  my  forefathers  in  a 
pure  conscience,  how  unceasing  is  my  remembrance  of 
thee  in  my  supplications,  night  and  day  longing  to  see 
thee,  remembering  thy  tears,  that  I  may  be  filled  with 
joy;  having  been  reminded  of  the  unfeigned  faith  that  is 
in  thee;  which  dwelt  first  in  thy  grandmother  Lois,  and 
thy  mother  Eunice;  and,  I  am  persuaded,  in  thee  also. 
—II  Tim.  i :  3-5. 

"Unfeigned  faith"  is  often  thus  a  family  heritage,  handed 
down  by  vital  contagion.  But  in  many  homes  religion  is 
not  thus  beautifully  presented  to  the  children ;  it  is  a  hard 
and  rigorous  affair  of  dogma  and  restraint.  "Oh,  why,"  said 
a  young  professional  man,  whom  Professor  Coe  quotes,  "why 
did  my  parents  try  to  equip  me  with  a  doctrinal  system  in 
childhood?  I  supposed  that  the  whole  system  must  be  be- 
lieved on  pain  of  losing  my  religion  altogether.  And  so,  when 

26 


FAITH  A  ROAD  TO  TRUTH  [II-2] 

I  began  to  doubt  some  points,  I  felt  obliged  to  throw  all 
overboard.  I  have  found  my  way  back  to  positive  religion, 
but  by  what  a  long  and  bitter  struggle!"  If,  however,  one 
has  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  hardened  in  youth  by  unwise 
training,  is  it  reasonable  on  that  account  forever  to  shut  him- 
self out  from  the  most  glorious  experience  of  man?  This 
complaint  about  mistreatment  in  youth  is  often  an  excuse, 
not  a  reason  for  irreligion.  Says  Phillips  Brooks :  "I  have 
grown  familiar  to  weariness  with  the  self-excuse  of  men 
who  say,  'Oh,  if  I  had  not  had  the  terrors  of  the  law  so 
preached  to  me  when  I  was  a  boy,  if  I  had  not  been  so 
confronted  with  the  woes  of  hell  and  the  awfulness  of  the 
judgment  day,  I  should  have  been  religious  long  ago.'  My 
friends,  I  think  I  never  hear  a  meaner  or  a  falser  speech 
than  that.  Men  may  believe  it  when  they  say  it — I  suppose 
they  do — but  it  is  not  true.  It  is  unmanly,  I  think.  It  is 
throwing  on  their  teaching  and  their  teachers,  or  their  fathers 
and  their  mothers,  the  fault  which  belongs  to  their  own 
neglect,  because  they  have  never  taken  up  the  earnest  fight 
with  sin  and  sought  through  every  obstacle  for  truth  and 
God.  It  has  the  essential  vice  of  dogmatism  about  it,  for  it 
claims  that  a  different  view  of  God  would  have  done  for 
them  that  which  no  view  of  God  can  do,  that  which  must 
be  done,  under  any  system,  any  teaching,  by  humility  and 
penitence  and  struggle  and  self-sacrifice.  Without  these  no- 
teaching  saves  the  soul.  With  these,  under  any  teaching, 
the  soul  must  find  its  Father." 

O  Thou,  who  didst  lay  the  foundations  of  the  earth  amid 
the  singing  of  the  morning  stars  and  the  joyful  shouts  of 
the  sons  of  God,  lift  up  our  little  life  into  Thy  gladness* 
Out  of  Thee,  as  out  of  an  overflowing  fountain  of  Love, 
wells  forth  eternally  a  stream  of  blessing  upon  every  crea- 
ture Thou  hast  made.  If  we  have  thought  that  Thou  didst 
call  into  being  this  universe  in  order  to  win  praise  and  honor 
for  Thyself,  rebuke  the  vain  fancies  of  our  foolish  minds 
and  show  us  that  Thy  glory  is  the  joy  of  giving.  We  can. 
give  Thee  nothing  of  our  own.  All  that  we  have  is  Thine. 
Oh,  then,  help  us  to  glorify  Thee  by  striving  to  be  like  Thee. 
Make  us  just  and  pure  and  good  as  Thou  art.  May  we  be 
partakers  of  the  Divine  Mature,  so  that  all  that  is  truly 
human  in  us  may  be  deepened,  purified,  and  strengthened. 

27 


[II-2]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

And  so  may  we  be  witnesses  for  Thee,  lights  of  the  world, 
reflecting  Thy  light. 

Help  us  to  make  religion  a  thing  so  beautiful  that  all  men 
may  be  won  to  surrender  to  its  power.  Let  us  manifest  in 
our  lives  its  sweetness  and  excellency,  its  free  and  ennobling 
spirit.  Forbid  that  we  should  go  up  and  down  the  world 
with  melancholy  looks  and  dejected  visage,  lest  we  should 
repel  men  from  entering  Thy  Kingdom.  Rather,  may  we 
walk  in  the  freedom  and  joy  of  faith,  and  with  Thy  new 
song  in  our  mouths,  so  that  men  looking  on  us  may  learn 
to  trust  and  to  love  Thee.  Amen. — Samuel  McComb. 

Second  Week,  Second  Day 

Many  men  are  prejudiced  against  religion  during  their 
youthful  period  of  revolt  against  authority.  Listen  to  an 
ancient  father  talking  with  his  sons : 

Hear,  my  sons,  the  instruction  of  a  father, 

And  attend  to  know  understanding: 

For  I  give  you  good  doctrine; 

Forsake  ye  not  my  law. 

For  I  was  a  son  unto  my  father, 

Tender  and  only  beloved  in  the  sight  of  my  mother. 

And  he  taught  me,  and  said  unto  me: 

Let  thy  heart  retain  my  words; 

Keep  my  commandments,  and  live; 

Get  wisdom,  get  understanding; 

Forget  not,  neither  decline  from  the  words  of  my  mouth; 

Forsake  her  not,  and  she  will  preserve  thee; 

Love  her,  and  she  will  keep  thee. 

Wisdom  is  the  principal  thing;  therefore  get  wisdom; 

Yea,  with  all  thy  getting  get  understanding. 

Exalt  her,  and  she  will  promote  thee; 

She  will  bring  thee  to  honor,  when  thou  dost  embrace  her. 

She  will  give  to  thy  head  a  chaplet  of  grace; 

A  crown  of  beauty  will  she  deliver  to  thee. 

— Prov.  4:  1-9. 

No  father  can  read  this  urgent,  anxious  plea  without  under- 
standing the  reason  for  its  solicitude.  Every  boy  comes  to 
the  time  when  he  breaks  away  from  parental  authority  .and 
begins  to  take  his  life  into  his  own  hands.  It  is  one  of  youth's 
great  crises,  and  the  spirit  of  it  is  sometimes  harsh  and 
rebellious.  So  Carlyle  describes  his  own  experience :  "Such 

28 


FAITH  A  ROAD  TO  TRUTH  [II-3] 

transitions  are  ever  full  of  pain :  thus  the  Eagle  when  he 
moults  is  sickly;  and,  to  attain  his  new  beak,  must  harshly 
dash-off  the  old  one  upon  rocks."  For  religious  faith  this 
period  of  life  is  always  critical.  Stevenson  in  his  revolt, 
when  he  called  respectability  "the  deadliest  gag  and  wet- 
blanket  that  can  be  laid  on  man,"  also  became,  as  he  said, 
"a  youthful  atheist."  How  many  have  traveled  that  road 
and  stopped  in  the  negation !  Stevenson  did  not  stop,  and 
years  afterward  wrote  of  his  progress :  "Because  I  have 
reached  Paris,  I  am  not  ashamed  of  having  passed  through 
Newhaven  and  Dieppe."  Surely  if  anyone  has  been  "a  youth- 
ful atheist,"  it  was  an  experience  to  be  "passed  through." 

O  God,  we  turn  to  Thee  in  the  faith  that  Thou  dost  under- 
stand and  art  very  merciful.  Some  of  us  are  not  sure  con- 
cerning Thee;  not  sure  what  Thou  art;  not  sure  that  Thou 
art  at  all.  Yet  there  is  something  at  work  behind  our  minds, 
in  times  of  stillness  we  hear  it,  like  a  distant  song;  there 
is  something  in  the  sky  at  evening-time;  something  in  the 
face  of  man.  We  feel  that  round  our  incompleteness  flows 
Thy  greatness,  round  our  restlessness  Thy  rest.  Yet  this  is 
not  enough. 

We  want  a  heart  to  speak  to,  a  heart  that  understands;  a 
friend  to  whom  we  can  turn,  a  breast  on  which  we  may  lean. 
O  that  we  could  find  Thee!  Yet  could  we  ever  think  these 
things  unless  Thou  hadst  inspired  us,  could  we  ever  want 
these  things  unless  Thou  Thyself  wert  very  near? 

Some  of  us  know  full  well;  but  we  are  sore  afraid.  We 
dare  not  yield  ourselves  to  Thee,  for  we  fear  what  that  might 
mean.  Our  foolish  freedom,  our -feeble  pleasures,  our  fatal 
self-indulgence  suffice  to  hold  us  back  from  Thee,  though 
Thou  art  our  very  life,  and  we  so  sick  and  needing  Thee. 
Our  freedom  has  proved  false,  our  pleasures  have  long  since 
lost  their  zest,  our  sins,  oh  how  we  hate  them! 

Come  and  deliver  us,  for  we  have  lost  all  hope  in  ourselves. 
Amen. — W.  E.  Orchard. 

Second  Week,  Third  Day 

Some  men — often  the  precocious,  clever  ones — are  biased 
against  religion  because  in  youth  they  accepted  an  immature 
philosophy  of  life  and  have  never  changed  it.  The  crust 
forms  too  soon  on  some  minds,  and  if  it  forms  during  the 

29 


tII-3]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

period  of  youthful  revolt,  they  are  definitely  prejudiced 
against  religious  truth.  The  difference  between  such  folk 
and  the  great  believers  is  not  that  the  believers  had  no 
doubts,  but  that  they  did  not  fix  their  final  thought  of  life 
until  more  mature  experience  had  come.  They  fulfilled  the 
admonition  of  a  wise  father  to  keep  up  a  tireless  search  for 
truth : 

My  son,  if  thou  wilt  receive  my  words, 

And  lay  up  my  commandments  with  thee; 

So  as  to  incline  thine  ear  unto  wisdom, 

And  apply  thy  heart  to  understanding; 

Yea,  if  thou  cry  after  discernment, 

And  lift  up  thy  voice  for  understanding; 

If  thou  seek  her  as  silver, 

And  search  for  her  as  for  hid  treasures: 

Then  shalt  thou  understand  the  fear  of  Jehovah, 

And  find  the  knowledge  of  God. 

— Prov.  2:  1-5. 

• 

Mrs.  Charles  Kingsley,  for  example,  says  of  her  husband 
that  at  twenty  "He  was  full  of  religious  doubts ;  and  his 
face,  with  its  unsatisfied,  hungering,  and  at  times  defiant 
look,  bore  witness  to  the  state  of  his  mind."  At  twenty-one 
Kingsley  himself  wrote :  "You  believe  that  you  have  a  sus- 
taining Hand  to  guide  you  along  that  path,  an  Invisible 
Protection  and  an  unerring  Guide.  I,  alas !  have  no  stay 
for  my  weary  steps,  but  that  same  abused  and  stupefied  rea- 
son which  has  stumbled  and  wandered,  and  betrayed  me  a 
thousand  times  ere  now,  and  is  every  moment  ready  to  faint 
and  to  give  up  the  unequal  struggle."  If  Kingsley  had  framed 
his  final  philosophy  then,  what  a  loss  to  the  world  of  an 
inspiring  life  transfigured  by  Christian  faith !  He  cried  after 
discernment,  lifted  up  his  voice  for  understanding,  and  he 
found  the  knowledge  of  God.  Many  a  man  ought  to  revise 
in  the  light  of  mature  experience  and  thought  a  hasty  irreli- 
gious guess  at  life's  meaning  which  he  made  in  youth. 

O  Father,  we  turn  to  Thee  because  we  are  sore  vexed  with 
our  own  thoughts.  Our  minds  plague  us  with  questionings 
we  cannot  answer;  we  are  driven  to  voyage  on  strange  seas 
oj  thought  alone.  Dost  Thou  disturb  our  minds  with  endless 
questioning,  yet  keep  the  answers  hidden  in  Thy  heart,  so 

30 


FAITH  A  ROAD  TO  TRUTH  [II-4] 

that  au'ay  frotn  Thee  we  should  always  be  perplexed,  and  by 
thoughts  derived  from  Thee  be  ever  drawn  to  Thee?  Surely, 
our  God.  it  must  be  so. 

But  still  more  bitter  and  humbling,  O  Father,  is  our  experi- 
ence of  failure,  so  frequent,  tragic,  and  unpardonable.  We 
have  struggled  on  in  vain,  resolves  arc  broken  ere  they  pass 
our  lips;  we  can  see  no  hope  of  better  things,  we  can  never 
forgive  ourselves;  and  after  all  our  prayers  our  need  remains 
and  our  sense  of  coming  short  but  deepens.  Yet,  at  least 
7..V  know  that  we  have  failed,  and  how,  if  something  higher 
than  ourselves  were  not  at  work  within?  • 

Our  desperate  desires  have  driven  us  at  last  to  Thee,  con- 
scious now,  after  all  vain  effort,  that  it  is  Thyself  alone  can 
satisfy,  and  now  at  peace  to  know  that  Thou  it  is  who  art 
desired,  because  Thou  it  is  who  dost  desire  within  us.  Be- 
yond our  need  reveal  Thyself,  its  cause  and  cure;  in  all  desire 
teach  us  to  discern  Thy  drawing  near.  Amen. — W.  E.  Orchard. 

Second  Week,  Fourth  Day 

Men  are  often  prejudiced  against  religion  because  the 
churches  which  they  happened  to  attend  in  youth  urged  on 
them  an  irrational  faith.  Some  men  never  recover  from  the 
idea  that  all  religion  everywhere  must  always  be  the  same 
kind  of  religion  against  which  in  youth  their  good  sense 
rose  in  revolt ;  they  are  in  perpetual  rebellion  against  reli- 
gion as  it  was  when  they  broke  with  it  a  generation  ago. 
But  if  one  thing  more  than  another  grows,  expands,  be- 
comes in  the  intelligent  and  pure  increasingly  pure  and  in- 
telligent, it  is  religion. 

Consider  an  early  Hebrew  idea  of  God: 

And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  way  at  the  lodging-place, 
that  Jehovah  met  him,  and  sought  to  kill  Him.  Then 
Zipporah  took  a  flint,  and  cut  off  the  foreskin  of  her  son, 
and  cast  it  at  his  feet;  and  she  said,  Surely  a  bridegroom 
of  blood  art  thou  to  me.  So  he  let  him  alone.  Then  she 
said,  A  bridegroom  of  blood  art  thou,  because  of  the 
circumcision. — Exodus  4:  24-26. 

Over  against  so  abhorrent  a  picture  of  a  deity  who  would 
have  committed  murder,  had  not  a  mother  swiftly  circumcised 
her  son,  consider  a  later  thought  of  God: 

31 


[II-4]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

How  think  ye?  if  any  man  have  a  hundred  sheep,  and 
one  of  them  be  gone  astray,  doth  he  not  leave  the  ninety 
and  nine,  and  go  unto  the  mountains,  and  seek  that  which 
goeth  astray?  And  if  so  be  that  he  find  it,  verily  I  say 
unto  you,  he  rejoiceth  over  it  more  than  over  the  ninety 
and  nine  which  have  not  gone  astray.  Even  so  it  is  not 
the  will  of  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven,  that  one  of 
these  little  ones  should  perish. — Matt.  18:  12-14. 

So  religion  grows  with  man's  capacity  to  receive  higher, 
finer  revelations  of  the  divine.  And  in  no  age  of  the  world 
has  so  great  a  change  passed  over  the  intellectual  framework 
of  faith  as  in  the  generation  just  gone.  To  live  in  protest 
against  forms  of  belief  a  generation  old  is  fighting  men  of 
straw;  the  vanguard  of  religious  thought  and  life  has  pushed 
ahead  many  a  mile  beyond  the  point  of  such  attack.  Men 
who  threw  away  the  living  water  of  the  Gospel  because  they 
disliked  the  water-buckets  in  which  their  boyhood  churches 
presented  it,  are  living  spiritually  thirsty  lives  when  there 
is  no  reasonable  need  of  their  doing  so.  There  is  many 
an  unbeliever  with  a  "God-shaped  blank"  in  his  heart,  who 
could  be  a  confident  and  joyful  believer  if  he  only  knew  what 
religion  means  to  men  of  faith  today. 

O  God,  who  hast  formed  all  hearts  to  love  Thee,  made  all 
ways  to  lead  to  Thy  face,  created  all  desire  to  be  unsatisfied 
save  in  Thee ;  with  great  compassion  look  upon  us  gathered 
here.  Our  presence  is  our  prayer,  our  need  the  only  plea  we 
dare  to  claim,  Thy  purposes  the  one  assurance  we  possess. 

Some  of  us  are  very  confused;  we  do  not  know  why  we 
were  ever  born,  for  what  end  we  should  live,  which  way  we 
should  take.  But  ^ve  are  willing  to  be  guided.  Take  our 
trembling  hands  in  Thine,  and  lead  us  on. 

Some  of  us  are  sore  within.  We  long  for  love  and  friend- 
ship, but  we  care  for  no  one  and  we  feel  that  no  one  cares 
for  us.  We  are  misunderstood,  we  are  lonely,  we  have  been 
disappointed,  we  have  lost  our  faith  in  man  and  our  faith 
in  life.  Wilt  Thou  not  let  us  love  Thee  who  first  loved  us? 

Some  of  us  are  vexed  with  passions  that  affright  us;  to 
yield  to  them  would  mean  disaster,  to  restrain  them  is  beyond 
our  power,  and  nothing  earth  contains  exhausts  their 
vehemence  or  satisfies  their  fierce  desire. 

32 


FAITH  A  ROAD  TO  TRUTH  [II-s] 

And  so  because  there  is  no  answer,  no  end  or  satisfaction 
in  ourselves;  and  because  we  are  what  we  arc,  and  yet  long 
to  be  so  different;  we  believe  Thou  art,  and  that  Thou  dost 
understand  us.  By  faith  we  feel  after  Thee,  through  love 
we  find  the  •a.-a\.  in  hope  we  bring  ourselves  to  Thee.  Amen. 
— W.  E.  Orchard. 

Second  Week,  Fifth  Day 

Many  minds  are  prejudiced  against  religion  because,  hav- 
ing gone  so  far  as  to  feel  the  credulity  of  religious  belief, 
they  have  never  gone  further  and  seen  the  credulity  of  reli- 
gious unbelief.  Irreligion  implies  a  creed  just  as  surely  as 
religion  does ;  and  many  a  man's  return  to  faith  has  begun 
when  his  faculties  of  doubt,  which  hitherto  had  been  used 
only  against  belief  in  God,  became  active  against  belief  in 
no-God.  Mr.  Gilbert  Chesterton,  with  his  characteristic 
vividness  and  exaggeration,  narrates  such  an  experience :  "I 
never  read  a  line  of  Christian  apologetics.  I  read  as  little 
as  I  can  of  them  now.  It  was  Huxley  and  Herbert  Spencer 
and  Bradlaugh  who  brought  me  back  to  orthodox  theology. 
They  sowed  in  my  mind  my  first  wild  doubts  of  doubt.  Our 
grandmothers  were  quite  right  when  they  said  that  Tom 
Paine  and  the  free-thinkers  unsettled  the  mind.  They  do. 
They  unsettled  mine  horribly.  The  rationalist  made  me 
question  whether  reason  was  of  any  use  whatever;  and  when 
I  had  finished  Herbert  Spencer  I  had  got  as  far  as  doubting 
(for  the  first  time)  whether  evolution  had  occurred  at  all. 
As  I  laid  down  the  last  of  Colonel  Ingersoll's  atheistic  lec- 
tures the  dreadful  thought  broke  across  my  mind,  'Almost 
thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian.'  I  was  in  a  desperate 
way."  Lest  Mr.  Chesterton's  whimsicality  may  hide  the 
seriousness  of  such  an  experience,  we  may  add  that  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson's  first  break  with  his  "youthful  atheism" 
came  when,  under  the  influence  of  Professor  Fleeming  Jen- 
kin,  he  too  began  to  have  his  "first  wild  doubts  of  doubt." 
He  began  thinking,  as  he  says,  that  "certainly  the  church  was 
not  right,  but  certainly  not  the  anti-church  either."  Many 
a  man  has  played  unfairly  with  his  doubts;  he  has  used  them 
against  religion,  but  not  against  irreligion.  When  he  is 
thorough  with  his  doubts  he  may  join  the  many  who  under- 
stand what  the  apostle  meant  when  he  wrote  to  Timothy : 

33 


[II-6]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

O  Timothy,  guard  that  which  is  committed  unto  thee, 
turning  away  from  the  profane  babblings  and  oppositions 
of  the  knowledge  which  is  falsely  so  called;  which  some 
professing  have  erred  concerning  the  faith. 

Grace  be  with  you. — i  Tim.  6:  20,  21. 

O  God,  too  near  to  be  found,  too  simple  to  be  conceived, 
too  good  to  be  believed;  help  us  to  trust,  not  in  our  knowledge 
of  Thee,  but  in  Thy  knowledge  of  us;  to  be  certain  of  Thee, 
not  because  we  feel  our  thoughts  of  Thee  are  true,  but  be- 
cause we  know  how  far  Thou  dost  transcend  them.  May 
we  not  be  anxious  to  discern  Thy  will,  but  content  only  with 
desire  to  do  it;  may  we  not  strain  our  minds  to  understand 
Thy  nature,  but  yield  ourselves  and  live  our  lives  only  to 
express  Thee. 

Shew  us  how  foolish  it  is  to  doubt  Thee,  since  Thou  Thy- 
self dost  set  the  questions  which  disturb  us;  reveal  our  un- 
belief to  be  faith  fretting  at  its  outworn  form.  Be  gracious 
when  we  are  tempted  to  cease  from  moral  strife:  reveal  what 
it  is  that  struggles  in  us.  Before  we  tire  of  mental  search 
enable  us  to  see  that  it  was  not  ourselves  but  Thy  call  which 
stirred  our  souls. 

Turn  us  back  from  our  voyages  of  thought  to  that  which 
sent  us  forth.  Teach  us  to  trust  not  to  cleverness  or  learn- 
ing, but  to  that  inward  faith  which  can  never  be  denied. 
Lead  us  out  of  confusion  to  simplicity.  Call  us  back  from 
wandering  without  to  find  Thee  at  home  within.  Amen. — 
W.  E.  Orchard. 

Second  Week,  Sixth  Day 

Many  men  are  biased  in  favor  of  their  habitual  doubt  be- 
cause they  do  not  see  that  positive  faith  is  the  only  normal 
estate  of  man.  We  live  not  by  the  things  of  which  we  are 
uncertain,  but  by  the  things  which  we  verily  believe.  Colum- 
bus doubted  many  of  the  old  views  in  geography,  but  these 
negations  did  not  make  him  great;  his  greatness  sprang  from 
the  positive  beliefs  which  he  confidently  held  and  on  which 
he  launched  his  splendid  adventure.  Goethe  is  right  when 
he  makes  Mephistopheles,  his  devil,  say,  "I  am  the  spirit  of 
negation,"  for  negation,  save  as  it  paves  the  way  for  positive 
conviction,  always  bedevils  life.  The  psalmist  reveals  the 
ideal  experience  for  every  doubter. 

34 


FAITH  A  ROAD  TO  TRUTH  [II-6] 

First,  uncertainty: 

But  as  for  me,  my  feet  were  almost  gone; 
My  steps  had  well  nigh  slipped. 
For  I  was  envious  at  the  arrogant, 
When  I  saw  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked. 

— Psalm  73:  2,  3. 

Then  vision: 

When  I  thought  how  I  might  know  this, 
It  was  too  painful  for  me; 
Until  I  went  into  the  sanctuary  of  God, 
And  considered  their  latter  end. 

— Psalm  73:  16,  17. 

Then,  positive  assurance: 

Thou  wilt  guide  me  with  thy  counsel, 
And  afterward  receive  me  to  glory. 
Whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  thee? 

And  there  is  none  upon  earth  that  I  desire  besides  thee. 
My  flesh  and  my  heart  faileth; 

But  God  is  the  strength  of  my  heart  and  my  portion  for 
ever.  — Psalm  73:  24-26. 

Doubt,  therefore,  does  have  real  value  in  life ;  it  clears 
away  rubbish  and  stimulates  search  for  truth ;  but  it  has  no 
value  unless  it  is  finally  swallowed  up  in  positive  assurance. 
So  Tennyson  pictures  the  experience  of  his  friend,  Arthur 
Hallam : 

"One  indeed  I  knew 
In  many  a  subtle  question  versed, 
Who  touch'd  a  jarring  lyre  at  first, 
But  ever  strove  to  make  it  true: 

Perplext  in  faith,  but  pure  in  deeds, 

At  last  he  beat  his  music  out. 

There  lives  more  faith  in  honest  doubt, 
Believe  me,  than  in  half  the  creeds. 

He  fought  his  doubts  and  gather'd  strength, 
He  would  not  make  his  judgment  blind, 
He  faced  the  spectres  of  the  mind 

And  laid  them :  thus  he  came  at  length 

To  find  a  stronger  faith  his  own." 
35 


[II-7]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

O  Most  Merciful,  whose  love  to  us  is  mighty,  long-suffering, 
and  infinitely  tender;  lead  us  beyond  all  idols  and  imagina- 
tions of  our  minds  to  contact  -with  Thee  the  real  and  abiding ; 
past  all  barriers  of  fear  and  beyond  all  paralysis  of  failure 
to  that  furnace  of  flaming  purity  where  falsehood,  sin,  and 
cowardice  are  all  consumed  away.  It  may  be  that  we  know 
not  what  we  ask;  yet  we  dare  not  ask  for  less. 

Our  aspirations  are  hindered  because  we  do  not  know  our- 
selves. We  have  tried  to  slake  our  burning  thirst  at  broken 
cisterns,  to  comfort  the  crying  of  our  spirits  with  baubles 
and  trinkets,  to  assuage  the  pain  of  our  deep  unrest  by  drug- 
ging an  accusing  conscience,  believing  a  lie,  and  veiling  the 
naked  name  that  burns  within.  But  now  we  know  Thou 
makest  us  never  to  be  content  with  aught  save  Thyself,  in 
earth,  or  heaven,  or  hell. 

Sometimes  we  have  sought  Thee  in  agony  and  tears,  scanned 
the  clouds  and  watched  the  ways  of  men,  considered  the  stars 
and  studied  the  moral  law;  and  returned  from  all  our  search 
no  surer  and  no  nearer.  Yet  now  we  know  that  the  impulse 
to  seek  Thee  came  from  Thyself  alone,  and  what  we  sought 
for  was  the  image  Thou  hadst  first  planted  in  our  hearts. 

We  may  not  yet  hold  Thee  fast  or  feel  Thee  near,  but  we 
know  Thou  holdest  us.  All  is  well.  Amen. — \V.  E.  Orchard. 

Second  Week,  Seventh  Day 

Men  are  often  prejudiced  against  religion  or  any  serious 
consideration  of  it,  because  they  never  have  felt  any  vital 
need  of  God.  To  study  wireless  telegraphy  in  the  safe  seclu- 
sion of  a  college  laboratory  is  one  thing;  to  hear  the  wire- 
less apparatus  on  a  floundering  ship  send  out  its  call  for  help 
across  a  stormy  sea  is  quite  a  different  matter.  Many  folk 
have  never  thought  of  faith  in  God  save  with  a  mild,  intel- 
lectual curiosity;  they  do  not  know  those  deep  experiences 
of  serious  souls  with  sin  and  sorrow  and  anxiety,  with 
burden  for  great  causes  and  desire  for  triumphant  righteous- 
ness in  men  and  nations — experiences  that  throw  men  back 
on  God  as  their  only  sufficient  refuge  and  hope.  Men  never 
really  find  God  until  they  need  him;  and  some  men  never 
feel  the  need  of  him  until  life  plunges  them  into  a  shattering 
experience.  Even  in  scientific  research  new  discoveries  are 
made  because  men  want  them,  and  Mayer,  lighting  on  a  theory 

36 


FAITH  A  ROAD  TO  TRUTH  III-;] 

that  proved  to  be  of  great  value,  says,  "Engaged  during  a 
sea  voyage  almost  exclusively  with  the  study  of  physiology, 
I  discovered  the  new  theory,  for  the  sufficient  reason  that  I 
vividly  felt  the  need  of  it."  How  much  more  must  the  vital 
discovery  of  God  depend  on  life's  conscious  demand  for 
him !  And  how  certainly  a  shallow,  frivolous  nature,  un- 
stirred by  the  deep  concerns  of  life,  is  biased  against  any 
serious  interest  in  religious  faith !  Great  believers  have  first 
of  all  thirsted  for  God. 

Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters, 
and  he  that  hath  no  money;  come  ye,  buy,  and  eat;  yea, 
come,  buy  wine  and  milk  without  money  and  without 
price.  Wherefore  do  ye  spend  money  for  that  which  is 
not  bread?  and  your  labor  for  that  which  satisfieth  not? 
hearken  diligently  unto  me,  and  eat  ye  that  which  is  good, 
and  let  your  soul  delight  itself  in  fatness.  Incline  your 
ear,  and  come  unto  me;  hear,  and  your  soul  shall  live: 
and  I  will  make  an  everlasting  covenant  with  you,  even 
the  sure  mercies  of  David.  .  .  .  Seek  ye  Jehovah  while 
he  may  be  found;  call  ye  upon  him  while  he  is  near:  let 
the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man  his 
thoughts;  and  let  him  return  unto  Jehovah,  and  he  will 
have  mercy  upon  him;  and  to  our  God,  for  he  will 
abundantly  pardon. — Isa.  55:  1-3,  6,  7. 

Grant  unto  us,  -we  pray  Thcc,  the  lost  hunger  and  thirst 
after  righteousness — the  longing  for  God.  Grant  unto  us  that 
drawing  power  by  which  everything  that  is  in  us  shall  call 
out  for  Thee.  Become  necessary  unto  us.  With  the  morn- 
ing and  evening  light,  at  noon  and  at  midnight,  may  we  feel 
the  need  of  Thy  companionship.  .  .  .  Though  Thou  dost 
not  speak  as  man  speaks,  yet  Thou  canst  call  out  to  us;  and 
the  soul  shall  know  Thy  presence,  and  shall  understand  by 
its  own  self  what  Thou  meanest.  Grant  unto  us  this  wit- 
ness of  the  Spirit,  this  communion  of  the  soul  with  Thee — and 
not  only  once  or  twice:  may  we  abide  in  the  light. 

Thou  hast  come  unto  Thine  own;  and  even  as  of  old, 
Thine  own  know  Thee  not,  and  believe  Thee  not.  How  many 
are  there  that  have  learned  Thy  name  upon  their  mother's 
knee,  but  have  forgotten  it!  How  many  are  there  that  grew 
up  into  the  happiness  of  a  childhood  in  which  piety  presided, 
but  have  gone  away,  and  have  not  come  back  again  to  their 
first  love  and  to  their  early  faith!  How  many  are  there 

37 


[II-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

marching  on  now  in  the  Sahara  of  indifference  and  in  the 
wilderness  of  unbelief!  .  .  .  Lord,  look  upon  them;  have 
merciful  thoughts  toward  them,  and  issue  those  gracious  in- 
fluences of  power  by  which  what  is  best  in  them  shall  lift 
itself  up  and  bear  witness  against  that  which  is  worst.  Amen. 
— Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 

I 

We  are  to  deal  in  this  chapter  with  one  of  the  most  com- 
mon experiences  of  doubt  and  are  to  attempt  the  statement  of 
a  truth  useful  in  meeting  it.  Many  minds  are  undone  at  the 
first  symptoms  of  religious  uncertainty,  because  they  sup- 
pose that  their  doubt  is  philosophical,  and  they  feel  a  paralyz- 
ing inability  to  deal  with  philosophy  at  all.  As  men  have 
been  known  to  take  to  their  beds  at  hearing  the  scientific 
names  of  illnesses  which  hitherto  they  had  patiently  endured, 
so  minds  are  sometimes  overwhelmed  by  an  unsettlement  of 
faith  that  takes  the  name  of  philosophic  doubt.  It  is  well, 
then,  early  in  our  study,  to  note  the  homely,  familiar  expe- 
rience, which  in  most  cases  underlies  and  helps  to  explain 
the  problem  of  theological  unrest. 

We  all  began,  as  children,  with  an  unlimited  ability  to  be- 
lieve what  we  were  told.  We  were  credulous  long  before  we 
became  critical.  God  and  Santa  Claus,  fairy  stories  and  life 
after  death — in  what  beautiful,  unquestioning  confusion  we 
received  them  all !  Our  thinking  was  altogether  imitative,  as 
our  talking  was.  From  the  existence  of  Kamchatka  to  the 
opinion  that  it  was  wrong  to  lie,  we  had  no  independent 
knowledge  of  our  own.  Reliance  on  authority  was  our  only 
road  to  truth.  One  prescription  was  adequate  for  every  need 
of  information :  ask  our  parents  and  be  told. 

This  situation  was  the  occasion  of  our  first  unsettlement  of 
faith :  we  discovered  the  fallibility  of  our  parents.  They 
failed  to  tell  us  what  we  asked,  or  we  found  to  be  untrue 
what  they  had  said,  or  they  themselves  confessed  how  much 
they  did  not  know.  To  some  this  was  a  shock,  the  memory 
of  which  has  never  been  forgotten.  Edmund  Gosse,  the  liter- 
ary critic,  tells  us  that  up  to  his  sixth  year  he  thought  that 
his  father  knew  everything.  Then  came  the  fateful  crisis 
when  his  father  wrongly  reported  an  incident  which  Edmund 

38 


FAITH  A  ROAD  TO  TRUTH  [II-c] 

himself  had  witnessed.  "Nothing  could  possibly  have  been 
more  trifling  to  my  parents,"  he  writes,  "but  to  me  it  meant 
an  epoch.  Here  was  the  appalling  discovery  never  suspected 
before  that  my  father  was  not  as  God  and  did  not  know  every- 
thing. The  shock  was  not  caused  by  any  suspicion  that  he 
was  not  telling  the  truth,  as  it  appeared  to  him,  but  by  the 
awful  proof  that  he  was  not,  as  I  had  supposed,  omniscient." 
By  most  of  us,  however,  the  transfer  of  our  faith  from  our 
parents'  authority  to  some  other  basis  of  belief  was  easily  ac- 
complished. We  found  ourselves  resting  back  on  the  priest  or 
the  church  or  the  creed  or  the  Bible.  Still  our  convictions 
were  not  independently  our  own ;  we  had  never  fought  for 
them  or  thought  them  through ;  they  were  founded  on  the 
say-so  of  authority.  What  we  wished  to  know  we  asked  an- 
other, and  what  was  told  us  we  implicitly  believed. 

The  time  inevitably  comes,  however,  to  a  normally  de- 
veloping mind,  when  such  an  attitude  of  unquestioning  cre- 
dulity becomes  impossible.  The  curious  "Why?"  of  the  grow- 
ing child,  that  began  in  early  years  to  besiege  all  statements 
of  fact,  now  ranges  out  to  call  in  question  the  propositions  of 
religious  faith.  For  long-accepted  truths,  from  the  rotun- 
dity of  the  earth  to  the  existence  of  God,  the  enlarging  intel- 
lect wants  reasons  rather  than  dogmas.  So  normal  is  this 
period  of  interrogation  that  it  is  regularly  slated  on  the  time- 
tables of  psychological  development.  Starbuck  fixes  the  aver- 
age age  of  the  doubt  period  at  about  eighteen  years  for  boys 
and  about  fifteen  for  girls. 

At  whatever  time  and  in  whatever  special  form  this  period 
of  doubt  arises,  the  characteristic  quality  of  its  outcome  is 
easily  described.  In  the  end  the  fully  awakened  mind  is  ill 
content  to  accept  any  authoritative  statements  that  he  dare 
not  question  or  deny.  He  resents  having  a  quotation  from 
any  source  waved  like  a  revolver  in  his  face  with  the  demand 
that  he  throw  up  his  intellectual  hands.  No  more  in  religion 
than  in  politics  does  he  incline  to  stand  before  infallibility, 
like  the  French  peasants  before  Louis  XI,  saying,  "Sire,  what 
are  our  opinions?"  He  claims  his  right  to  question  every- 
thing, to  make  every  truth  advance  and  give  the  countersign 
of  reasonableness,  to  weigh  all  propositions  in  the  scales  of 
his  own  thinking,  and  if  he  is  to  love  the  Lord  his  God  at 
all,  to  do  it,  not  with  all  his  credulity,  but,  as  Jesus  said,  with 
all  his  mind. 

39 


[II-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

Biography  reveals  how  many  of  the  great  believers  have 
passed  through  this  youthful  period  of  rebellion  against  ac- 
cepted tradition  and  have  suffered  serious  religious  unsettle- 
ment  in  the  process.  Robert  Browning  tells  us  that  as  a  boy 
he  was  "passionately  religious."  When  his  period  of  ques- 
tioning and  revolt  arrived,  however,  it  carried  him  so  far 
that  he  was  publicly  rebuked  in  church  for  intentional  misbe- 
havior, and  in  his  sixteenth  year,  under  the  influence  of 
Shelley's  "Queen  Mab,"  he  declared  himself  an  atheist.  But 
in  his  "Pauline,"  written  when  he  was  twenty-one,  the  direc- 
tion in  which  his  quest  was  leading  him  was  plain : 

"I  have  always  had  one  lode-star ;  now 
As  I  look  back,  I  see  that  I  have  halted 
Or  hastened  as  I  looked  towards  that  star — 
A  need,  a  trust,  a  yearning  after  God." 

And  when  he  grew  to  his  maturity,  had  left  his  early  credu- 
lousness  with  the  revolt  that  followed  it  far  behind  and  had 
used  his  independent  thinking  to  productive  purpose,  from 
what  a  height  of  splendid  faith  did  he  look  back  upon  that 
youthful  period  of  storm  and  stress  which  he  called  "the 
passionate,  impatient  struggles  of  a  boy  toward  truth  and 
love" ! 

Henry  Ward  Beecher's  intellectual  revolution  was  post- 
poned until  he  had  entered  the  theological  seminary.  "I  was 
then  twenty  years  old,"  he  writes,  "and  there  came  a  great 
revulsion  in  me  from  all  this  inchoate,  unregulated,  undi- 
rected experience.  My  mind  took  one  tremendous  spring 
over  into  scepticism,  and  I  said :  'I  have  been  a  fool  long 
enough — I  will  not  stir  one  step  further  than  I  can  see  my 
way,  and  I  will  not  stand  a  moment  where  I  cannot  see  the 
truth.  I  will  have  something  that  is  sure  and  steadfast.'  Hav- 
ing taken  that  ground,  I  was  in  that  state  of  mind  for  the 
larger  part  of  two  years."  A  wholesome  restraint  upon  the 
wild  perversions,  the  anarchic  denials,  the  abysmal  despairs 
of  this  period  of  life  is  the  clear  recognition  that  in  some  form 
it  is  one  of  the  commonest  experiences  of  man. 

II 

The  treatment  accorded  to  a  youth  who  is  passing  through 
this  difficult  adjustment  often  determines,  in  a  fine  or  lament- 

40 


FAITH  A  ROAD  TO  TRUTH  [II-cJ 

able  w%y,  his  subsequent  attitude  towards  religion.  Negative 
repression  of  real  questions  is  of  all  methods  the  most  /a/a/, 
whether  it  be  practiced  on  the  youth  by  others  or  by  the  youth 
upon  himself.  "I  have  not  been  in  church  for  twenty  years," 
said  a  college  graduate.  "Why?"  was  the  inquiry.  "Because 
in  college  I  learned  from  geology  through  how  many  ages  this 
earth  was  slowly  being  built.  Troubled  by  the  conflict  between 
this  new  knowledge  and  my  early  training,  I  went  to  my 
minister.  He  said  that  the  Bible  told  us  the  earth  was  made 
in  six  days  and  that  I  must  accept  that  on  faith.  That's 
why."  Thousands  of  men  are  religious  wrecks  today  be- 
cause, when  the  issue  was  raised  in  their  thinking  between 
their  desire  for  a  reason  and  their  traditional  beliefs,  they 
were  told  that  to  ask  a  reason  is  sin.  George  Eliot's  expe- 
rience unhappily  is  not  unique.  Just  when  in  girlhood  her 
mind  was  waking  to  independent  thought,  a  book  now  long 
unread,  Hennell's  "Inquiry  Concerning  the  Origin  of  Chris- 
tianity," convinced  her  immature  judgment  that  her  early 
credulity  had  been  blind.  No  one  was  at  hand  to  state  the 
faith  in  a  reasonable  way  or  to  meet,  not  by  denying  but  by 
using  her  right  to  think,  the  attacks  of  Hennell,  which  now 
are  forgotten  in  their  futility.  She  never  came  through  her 
youthful  unsettlement.  Years  after,  F.  \V.  H.  Myers  wrote: 
"I  remember  how  at  Cambridge  I  walked  with  her  once  in 
the  Fellows'  Garden  of  Trinity,  on  an  evening  of  rainy  May, 
and  she,  stirred  somewhat  beyond  her  wont,  and  taking  as 
her  text  the  three  words  which  have  been  used  so  often  as  the 
inspiring  trumpet  calls  of  men — the  words  God,  Immortality, 
Duty — pronounced  with  terrible  earnestness,  how  inconceiv- 
able was  the  first,  how  unbelievable  was  the  second,  and  how 
peremptory  and  absolute  the  third.  Never,  perhaps,  had 
sterner  accents  affirmed  the  sovereignty  of  impersonal  and 
unrecompensing  law.  I  listened  and  night  fell ;  her  grave, 
majestic  countenance  turned  toward  me  like  a  Sibyl's  in  the 
gloom ;  it  was  as  though  she  withdrew  from  my  grasp  one 
by  one  the  two  scrolls  of  promise,  and  left  me  the  third  scroll 
only,  awful  with  inevitable  fate." 

In  this  period  of  readjustment,  whether  one  is  the  youth  in 
the  midst  of  the  struggle  or  the  solicitous  friend  endeavoring 
to  help,  one  most  needs  a  clear  perception  of  the  ideal  out- 
come of  such  intellectual  unrest.  Let  us  attempt  a  picture  of 
that  ideal.  The  youth  who  long  has  taken  on  his  parents'  say- 

41 


[II-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

so  the  most  important  convictions  that  the  soul  can  kold,  or 
who,  with  no  care  to  think  or  question  for  himself,  has  looked 
to  Book  or  Church  for  all  that  he  believed  about  God,  now 
feels  within  him  that  intellectual  awakening  that  cannot  be 
quieted  by  mere  authority.  He  long  has  taken  his  truth 
preserved  by  others'  hands ;  now  he  desires  to  pick  it  for 
himself,  fresh  from  the  living  tree  of  knowledge.  His 
declaration  of  independence  from  subjection  to  his  parents 
or  his  Church  is  not  at  first  irreverent  desire  to  disbelieve; 
it  is  rather  desire  to  enter  into  the  Samaritans'  experience 
when  they  said  to  the  woman  who  first  had  told  them  about 
Jesus :  "Now  we  believe,  not  because  of  thy  speaking ;  for  we 
have  heard  for  ourselves,  and  know  that  this  is  indeed  the 
Saviour  of  the  world"  (John  4:41).  The  youth  turns  from 
second-hand  rehearsal  of  the  truth  to  seek  a  first-hand,  orig- 
inal acquaintance  with  it.  As  he  began  in  utter  financial  de- 
pendence on  his  father,  then  made  a  bit  of  spending  money 
of  his  own,  and  at  last  moved  out  to  make  his  living,  ashamed 
to  be  a  pensioner  and  parasite  when  he  should  be  carrying 
himself,  so  from  his  old,  intellectual  dependence  the  youth 
passes  to  a  fine  responsibility  for  his  own  thinking  and  belief. 
He  knows  that  such  transitions,  whether  financial  or  intellect- 
ual, generally  mean  stress  and  perplexity,  but  if  he  is  to  be 
a  man  the  youth  must  venture. 

In  this  transition  beliefs  will  certainly  be  modified.  Not 
only  do  forms  of  religious  thinking  shift  and  change  with  the 
passing  generations,  but  individuals  differ  in  their  powers  to 
see  and  understand.  Religious  faith,  like  water,  takes  shape 
from  the  receptacles  into  whose  unique  nooks  and  crannies 
it  is  poured.  If  the  truth  which  the  youth  possesses  is  to  be 
indeed  his  own,  it  will  surely  differ  from  the  truth  which  once 
he  learned,  by  as  much  as  his  mind  and  his  experience  differ 
from  his  father's.  Even  in  the  New  Testament  one  can  easily 
distinguish  James'  thought  from  Paul's  and  John's  from 
Peter's.  But  change  of  form  need  not  mean  loss  of  value. 
To  pass  by  fine  gradations  from  unquestioning  credulity  to 
thoughtful  faith  is  not  impossible.  Thus  a  boy  learns  to  swim 
with  his  father's  hands  beneath  him  and  passes  so  gradually 
from  reliance  upon  another  to  independent  power  to  swim 
alone  that  he  cannot  tell  when  first  the  old  support  was 
quietly  withdrawn. 

Thus  ideally  pictured,  this  transition  is  nothing  to  be  feared ; 
42 


FAITH  A  ROAD  TO  TRUTH  [II-c] 

it  is  one  of  life's  steps  to  spiritual  power.  This  period  of 
questioning  and  venture  we  have  called  the  passage  from 
credulity  to  independence,  but  its  significance  is  deeper  than, 
those  words  imply.  //  is  the  passage  from  hearsay  to  reality^ 
Of  all  inward  intimate  experiences,  religion  reaches  deepest 
and  is  least  transferable.  It  is  as  incommunicable  as  friend- 
ship. A  father  may  commend  a  comrade  to  his  son  and  lay 
bare  his  own  deep  friendship  with  the  man,  but  if  the  son 
himself  does  not  see  the  value  there  nor  for  himself  in  loyalty 
and  love  make  self  surrender,  the  father  can  do  nothing  more. 
Friendship  cannot  be  carried  on  by  proxy.  One  can  as  easily 
breathe  for  another  as  in  another's  place  be  loyal  to  a  friend, 
or  trust  in  God. 

When,  therefore,  the  youth  moves  out  from  mere  depen- 
dence on  his  father,  his  Bible,  or  his  Church  to  see  and  know 
God  in  his  own  right,  he  is  fulfilling  the  end  of  all  religion. 
For  this  his  father  taught  him,  for  this  the  Book  u'as  written 
and  the  Church  was  founded.  As  George  Macdonald  put  it, 
"Each  generation  must  do  its  own  seeking  and  finding.  The 
father's  having  found  is  only  the  warrant  for  the  children's 
search."  Said  Goethe:  "What  you  have  inherited  from  your 
fathers  you  must  earn  for  yourself  before  you  can  call  it 
yours."  This  individual  experience  makes  religion  real,  and 
the  "awkward  age"  of  the  spirit  when  the  old  security  of 
credulous  belief  has  gone  and  the  new  assurance  of  personal 
conviction  has  not  yet  fully  come,  is  a  small  price  to  pay  for 
the  sense  of  reality  that  enters  into  religion  when  a  man  for 
himself  knows  God.  Such  is  the  ideal  transition  from  cre- 
dulity to  independence,  from  hearsay  to  reality. 

Ill 

One  fallacy  which  disastrously  affects  many  endeavors  after 
this  ideal  transition  is  the  prejudice  that,  since  faith  has 
hitherto  in  the  youth's  experience  meant  credulous  acceptance 
of  another's  say-so,  faith  always  must  mean  that  Faith  and 
credulity  appear  to  him  identical.  In  "Alice  through  the 
Looking  Glass"  the  Queen  asserts  that  she  is  a  hundred  and 
one  years,  five  months,  and  one  day  old.  "I  can't  believe 
that,"  said  Alice.  "Can't  you?"  said  the  Queen.  "Try  again, 
draw  a  long  breath  and  shut  your  eyes."  So  blind,  irrational, 
and  wilful  does  faith  seem  to  many !  So  far  from  being  an 

43 


[II-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

essential  part  of  all  real  knowledge,  therefore,  faith  seems  to 
stand  in  direct  contrast  with  knowledge,  and  this  impression 
is  deepened  by  our  common  phraseology.  Tennyson,  for  ex- 
ample, sings : 

"We  have  but  faith :  we  cannot  know ; 
For  knowledge  is  of  things  we  see." 

Before  there  can  be  any  profitable  discussion  of  religious 
belief,  therefore,  we  need  to  see  that  faith  is  one  of  the  chief 
ways  in  which  continually  we  deal  with  reality ;  it  is  a  road 
to  truth,  without  which  some  truth  never  can  be  reached  at  all. 
The  reason  for  its  inevitableness  in  life  is  not  our  lack  of 
knowledge,  but  rather  that  faith  is  as  indispensable  as  logical 
demonstration  in  any  real  knowing  of  the  world.  Behind  all 
other  words  to  be  said  about  our  subject  lies  this  fundamental 
matter:  faith  is  not  a  substitute  for  truth,  but  a  pathway  to 
truth;  there  are  realities  which  without  it  never  can  be  known. 

For  one  thing,  no  one  can  know  persons  without  faith.  The 
world  of  people,  without  whom  if  a  man  could  live,  he  would 
be,  as  Aristotle  said,  either  a  brute  or  a  god,  is  closed  in  its 
inner  meaning  to  a  faithless  mind.  Entrance  into  another 
life  with  insight  and  understanding  is  always  a  venture  of 
trust.  We  cry  vainly  like  Cassim  before  the  magic  cave, 
"Open,  Barley,"  if  we  try  to  penetrate  the  secrets  of  a  human 
personality  without  sympathy,  loyalty,  faith.  These  alone  cry 
"Open,  Sesame." 

Surely  this  knowledge  of  persons,  impossible  without  faith, 
is  as  important  as  any  which  we  possess.  While  the  physical 
universe  furnishes  the  general  background  of  our  existence, 
the  immediate  world  in  which  we  really  live  is  personal,  made 
up  of  people  whom  we  fear  or  love,  by  whom  we  are  cheered, 
admonished,  hurt,  and  comforted.  "The  world  is  so  waste 
and  empty,"  cried  Goethe,  "when  we  figure  but  towns  and 
hills  and  rivers  in  it,  but  to  know  that  someone  is -living  on  it 
with  us,  even  in  silence — this  makes  our  earthly  ball  a  peopled 
garden."  A  solitary  Robinson  Crusoe  would  give  up  any 
other  knowledge,  if  in  return  he  could  know  even  a  benighted 
savage  like  Friday.  But  even  a  savage  cannot  be  known  by 
logical  demonstration.  Crusoe  could  so  have  learned  some 
things,  but  when  he  wanted  to  know  Friday,  he  came  by  way 
of  adventures  in  confidence,  personal  trust  and  self-commit- 

44 


FAITH  A  ROAD  TO  TRUTH  [II-cJ 

ment,  growing  reliance  and  appreciative  insight,  assured  loy- 
alty and  faith.  He  knew  whom  he  had  believed. 

Moreover,  such  knowledge  of  persons  is  as  solid  as  it  is 
important.  That  two  plus  two  make  four  cannot  be  gain- 
said, and  doubtless  no  other  kinds  of  information  can  be 
quite  so  absolute  as  mathematical  theorems.  But  when  one 
thinks  of  a  comrade,  long  loved  and  trusted  until  he  is  known 
through  and  through,  for  practical  purposes  one  can  think  of 
nothing  more  stable  than  his  knowledge  of  his  friend.  The 
plain  fact  is  that  we  do  know  people,  know  them  well,  and 
that  this  knowledge  never  has  been  or  can  be  a  matter  of 
logical  demonstration.  By  taking  Arthur  Hallam  to  pieces  and 
analyzing  him,  the  inductive  mind  might  work  out  all  the  laws 
that  are  involved  in  Arthur  Hallam's  constitution ;  but  that 
mind  with  all  its  knowledge  would  not  know  Arthur  Hallam. 
Tennyson's  "In  Memoriam,"  however,  makes  clear  that  knowl- 
edge of  a  friend  is  not  interdicted  because  scientific  demon- 
stration cannot  supply  it.  Tennyson  knew  Hallam  well,  and 
this  knowledge,  far  more  solid  and  significant  than  most  other 
information  he  possessed,  was  not  achieved  by  grinding  laws 
out  of  facts ;  it  came,  as  all  such  knowledge  comes,  by  faith. 

As  one  considers  what  this  understanding  of  the  personal 
world,  seen  with  the  open  eyes  of  trust  and  loyalty,  means  to 
us,  how  assured  it  is,  how  it  enriches  and  deepens  life,  he  per- 
ceives that  here  at  least  faith  is  something  far  more  than  a 
stop-gap  for  ignorance,  a  dream,  a  fantasy.  It  is  positively  a 
pathway  to  truth. 

There  is  another  realm  where  faith  is  our  only  way  of  deal- 
ing with  reality;  by  it  alone  can  we  know  the  possibilities  of 
individuals  and  of  society.  We  are  well  assured  now  in  the 
United  States  that  the  nation  can  be  economically  prosperous 
without  slavery.  But  sixty  years  ago  plenty  of  people 
were  assured  of  the  contrary,  were  convinced  that  if  the 
abolitionists  succeeded  we  could  not  economically  endure. 
How  did  we  come  by  this  significant  knowledge  that  the 
immoral  system  was  dispensable?  Not  by  logical  demonstra- 
tion. The  economists  of  most  of  our  universities  logically 
demonstrated  that  slavery  was  essential.  Faith  was  the  path- 
way to  the  truth.  Faith  that  a  new  order  minus  slavery  was 
possible  gained  adherents,  grew  in  certainty  with  access  of 
new  believers,  fed  its  followers  on  hopes  unrealized  but  pas- 
sionately believed  in,  until  faith  became  experiment,  and  ex- 

45 


[II-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

pertinent  became  experience,  and  experience  brought  forth 
knowledge.  The  nation  trusted  and  tried.  This  is  the  only 
way  to  truth  in  the  realm  of  moral  possibilities.  If  the  world 
were  finished,  its  i's  all  dotted  and  its  t's  all  crossed,  we  might 
exist  on  that  sort  of  descriptive  science  that  finds  the  facts 
and  plots  their  laws.  But  the  world  is  in  the  making ;  what  is 
actual  is  not  quite  so  important  to  us  as  what  is  possible ;  we 
live,  as  Wordsworth  sings,  in 

"Hope  that  can  never  die, 
Effort  and  expectation  and  desire, 
And   something  evermore  about   to  be." 

To  endeavor  to  satisfy  man,  therefore,  with  descriptions  of 
the  actual  is  preposterous.  The  innermost  meaning  of  per- 
sonal and  social  life  lies  in  the  contrast  between  what  we  are 
and  what  we  may  become.  Beyond  the  achieved  present  and 
the  demonstrable  future,  stands  the  ideal,  whose  possibility 
we  can  never  know  as  a  truth  without  faith  enough  to  try. 

When,  therefore,  one  hears  disparagement  of  faith  as  a 
poor  makeshift  for  knowledge,  he  may  be  pardoned  a  sharp 
rejoinder.  When  has  man  ever  found  solid  knowledge  in 
this  most  important  realm  of  human  possibilities,  without 
faith  as  the  pioneer?  We  do  not  know  first  and  then  supply 
by  belief  what  knowledge  lacks.  We  believe  first,  as  Colum- 
bus did,  and  then  find  new  continents  because  what  faith  first 
suggested  a  great  venture  has  confirmed.  When  Stephenson 
proposed  to  run  a  steam  car  forty  miles  an  hour,  a  host  of 
wise-acres  proved  the  feat  impossible  on  the  ground  that  no 
one  could  move  through  the  air  so  rapidly  and  still  survive. 
If  now  we  know  that  one  easily  survives  a  speed  of  over  a 
hundred  miles  an  hour  in  an  aeroplane,  it  is  because  a  faith 
that  saw  and  dared  introduced  us  to  the  information.  We 
know  now  that  democracy  is  not  a  futile  dream,  nor  the  con- 
quest of  the  air  by  wireless  and  of  the  land  by  electricity  a 
madman's  frenzy;  we  know  truths  of  highest  import  and 
certainty  from  the  usefulness  of  radium  to  the  wisdom  of 
religious  liberty,  and  all  this  knowledge  existed  as  belief  in 
possibility  before  it  became  truth  in  fact.  Faith  was  "assur- 
ance of  things  hoped  for,  a  conviction  of  things  not  seen" 
(Hebrews  11:1).  Faith  is  no  makeshift.  Its  power  is  no- 

46 


FAITH  A  ROAD  TO  TRUTH  [II-c] 

where  felt  more  effectively  than  in  the  achievement  of  knowl- 
edge. 

IV 

So  far  is  faith,  then,  from  being  blind  credulity,  that  it 
alone  deserves  to  be  called  the  Great  Discoverer.  Every- 
where faith  goes  before  as  a  pioneer  and  the  more  prosaic 
faculties  of  the  mind  come  after  to  civilize  the  newly  opened 
territory.  In  the  evolution  of  the  senses  touch  developed  first. 
All  the  knowledge  that  any  creature  had,  concerned  the  tan- 
gible. But  in  time  other  senses  came.  Dimly  and  uncertainly 
creatures  discerned  by  hearing  and  seeing  the  existence  of 
distant  objects.  They  became  aware  of  presences  which  as 
yet  they  could  not  touch ;  they  were  furnished  with  clues,  in 
following  which  they  found  as  real  what  at  first  had  been  in- 
tangible. Such  a  relation  faith  bears  to  knowledge.  Faith, 
said  Clement  of  Alexandria,  is  the  "ear  of  the  soul."  Said 
Ruskin,  faith  is  "veracity  of  insight."  By  it  we  hear  what  as 
yet  we  cannot  touch  and  see  what  the  arms  of  our  logic  are 
not  long  enough  to  reach. 

All  the  elemental,  primary  facts  of  life  are  faith's  discover- 
ies ;  we  have  no  other  means  of  finding  them.  By  faith  we 
discover  our  selves.  We  do  not  hold  back  from  living  until 
we  can  prove  that  we  exist.  We  never  can  strictly  prove  that 
we  exist.  The  very  self  that  we  are  trying  to  demonstrate 
would  have  to  be  used  in  the  demonstration.  We  have  no 
other  way  of  getting  at  ourselves  except  to  take  ourselves 
for  granted — accepting 

"This  main  miracle  that  you  are  you, 
With  power  on  your  own  act  and  on  the  world." 

As  Mr.  Chesterton  remarked,  "You  cannot  call  up  any  wilder 
vision  than  a  city  in  which  men  ask  themselves  if  they  have 
any  selves."  By  faith  all  men  go  out  to  live  as  though  their 
selves  were  real. 

By  faith  we  accept  the  existence  of  the  outer  -world.  We 
do  not  restrain  ourselves  from  acting  as  though  the  physical 
world  were  really  there,  until  we  can  prove  it.  We  never  can 
strictly  prove  it ;  perhaps  it  is  not  there  at  all.  When  through 
a  microscope  an  Indian  was  shown  germs  in  the  Ganges' 
water,  to  convince  him  of  the  peril  of  its  use,  he  broke  the 

47 


[II-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

instrument  with  his  cane,  as  though  when  the  microscope  was 
goner  the  facts  had  vanished  too.  In  his  philosophy  all  that 
we  see  is  illusion.  Perhaps  this  is  true — the  world  a  phantasm 
and  our  minds  fooling  us.  But  none  of  us  believes  it.  And 
we  do  not  believe  it  because  we  live  by  faith — the  elemental 
faith  on  which  all  common  sense  and  science  rest  and  with- 
out which  man's  thought  and  work  would  halt — that  our 
senses  and  our  minds  tell  us  the  truth.  "It  is  idle  to  talk 
always  of  the  alternative  of  reason  and  faith.  Reason  itself 
is  a  matter  of  faith.  It  is  an  act  of  faith  to  assert  that  one's 
thoughts  have  any  relation  to  reality  at  all." 

By  faith  we  even  discover  the  universe.  We  cannot  think 
of  the  world  as  a  multiverse;  we  always  think  of  it  as  having 
unity,  and  we  do  so  whether  as  scientists  we  talk  about  the 
uniformity  of  nature,  or  as  Christians  we  speak  of  one  Cre- 
ator. Not  only,  however,  can  no  one  demonstrate  that  this  is 
a  universe ;  it  positively  does  not  look  as  though  it  were. 
Opposing  powers  snarl  at  each  other  and  clash  in  a  disorder 
that  gives  to  the  casual  observer  not  the  slightest  intimation 
that  any  unity  is  there.  Thunder  storms  and  little  babies, 
volcanoes  and  Easter  lilies,  immeasurable  nebulae  in  the 
heavens  and  people  getting  married  on  the  earth — what  in- 
describable contrasts  and  confusions!  Still  we  insist  on 
thinking  unity  into  this  seeming  anomaly,  and  out  of  it  we 
wrest  scientific  doctrines  about  the  uniformity  of  law.  As 
Professor  James,  of  Harvard,  put  it,  "The  principle  of  uni- 
formity in  nature  has  to  be  sought  under  and  in  spite  of  the 
most  rebellious  appearances ;  and  our  conviction  of  its  truth 
is  far  more  like  religious  faith  than  like  assent  to  a  demon- 
stration." 

One  might  suppose  that  beliefs  so  assumed  and  so  incapable 
of  adequate  demonstration  would  make  the  knowledge  based 
upon  them  insecure.  But  the  fact  is  that  all  our  surest  knowl- 
edge is  thus  based  on  assumptions  that  we  cannot  prove.  "As 
for  the  strong  conviction,"  Huxley  says,  "that  the  cosmic 
order  is  rational,  and  the  faith  that  throughout  all  duration, 
unbroken  order  has  reigned  in  the  universe,  I  not  only  accept 
it,  but  I  am  disposed  to  think  it  the  most  important  of  all 
truths."  Faith  then,  in  Huxley's  thought,  is  not  a  makeshift 
when  knowledge  fails.  Rather  by  faith  we  continually  are 
getting  at  the  most  important  realities  with  which  we  deal. 
As  Prof.  Ladd,  of  Yale,  impatiently  exclaims :  "The  rankest 

48 


FAITH  A  ROAD  TO  TRUTH  [II-c] 

agnostic  is  shot  through  and  through  with  all  the  same  funda- 
mental intellectual  beliefs,  all  the  same  unescapable  rational 
faiths,  about  the  reality  of  the  self  and  about  the  validity  of 
its  knowledge.  You  cannot  save  science  and  destroy  all  faith. 
You  cannot  sit  on  the  limb  of  the  tree  while  you  tear  it  up 
by  the  roots." 


If  faith  is  thus  the  pioneer  that  leads  us  to  knowledge  of 
persons  and  of  moral  possibilities;  if  by  faith  we  discover  our 
selves,  the  outer  world's  existence  and  its  unity,  why  should 
we  be  surprised  that  faith  is  our  road  to  God?  Superficial 
deniers  of  religion  not  infrequently  seek  the  discredit  of  a 
Christian's  trust  by  saying  that  God  is  only  a  matter  of  faith. 
To  which  the  Christian  confidently  may  answer:  Of  course 
God  is  a  matter  of  faith.  Faith  is  always  the  Great  Dis- 

Everer. 
A  man  finds  God  as  he  finds  an  earthly  friend.  He  does 
>t  go  apart  in  academic  solitude  to  consider  the  logical 
rationality  of  friendship,  until,  intellectually  convinced,  he 
coolly  arms  himself  with  a  Q.  E.  D.  and  goes  out  to  hunt  a 
comrade.  Friendship  is  never  an  adventure  of  logic ;  it  is  an 
adventure  of  life.  It  is  arrived  at  by  what  Emerson  called 
the  "untaught  sallies  of  the  spirit."  We  fall  in  love,  it  may 
be  with  precipitant  emotion ;  our  instincts  and  our  wills  are 
first  engaged ;  the  whole  personality  rises  up  in  hunger  to 
claim  the  affection  that  it  needs  and  without  which  life  seems 
unsupportable ;  faith,  hope,  and  love  engage  in  a  glorious 
venture,  where  logic  plays  a  minor  part.  But  to  make  friend- 
ship rational,  to  give  it  poise,  to  trace  its  origins  and  laws,  to 
clarify,  chasten,  and  direct — this  is  the  necessary  work  of 
thought.  Faith  discovers  and  reveals ;  reason  furnishes  criti- 
cism, confirmation,  and  discipline. 

So  men  find  God.  They  are  hungry  for  him  not  in  intellect 
alone,  but  with  all  their  powers.  They  feel  with  Tolstoi :  "I 
remembered  that  I  only  lived  at  those  times  when  I  believed 
in  God.''  They  need  him  to  put  sense  and  worth  and  hope 
into  life.  As  with  the  reality  of  persons,  the  validity  of 
knowledge,  the  unity  of  the  world,  so  in  religion  the  whole 
man  rises  up  to  claim  the  truth  without  which  life  is  barren, 
meaningless.  His  best  convictions  at  the  first  are  all  of  them 
insights  of  the  spirit,  affirmations  of  the  man.  But  behind, 

49 


[II-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

around  and  through  them  all  play  clarifying  thoughts,  and 
reasons  come  to  discipline  and  to  confirm.  But  the  reasons 
by  themselves  could  not  have  found  God.  Faith  is  the  Great 
Discoverer. 

"Oh !  world,  thou  choosest  not  the  better  part, 
It  is  not  wisdom  to  be  only  wise, 
And  on  the  inward  vision  close  the  eyes ; 
But  it  is  wisdom  to  believe  the  heart. 
Columbus  found  a  world  and  had  no  chart 
Save  one  that  Faith  deciphered  in  the  skies ; 
To  trust  the  soul's  invincible  surmise 
Was  all  his  science  and  his  only  art. 
Our  knowledge  is  a  torch  of  smoky  pine 
That  lights  the  pathway  but  one  step  ahead 
Across  the  void  of  mystery  and  dread. 
Bid  then  the  tender  light  of  Faith  to  shine 
By  which  alone  the  mortal  heart  is  led 
Into  the  thinking  of  the  thought  Divine."  * 


1  Professor  Santayana,  of  Harvard. 


CHAPTER  III 

Faith  in  the  Personal  God 

DAILY  READINGS 

We  are  to  consider  this  week  the  Christian  faith  that  God 
is  personal.  Before,  however,  we  deal  with  the  arguments 
which  may  confirm  our  confidence  in  such  a  faith,  or  even 
with  the  explanations  that  may  clarify  our  conception  of  its 
meaning,  let  us,  in  the  daily  readings,  consider  some  of  the 
familiar  attitudes  in  every  normal  human  life,  that  require 
God's  personality  for  their  fulfilment.  Men  have  believed 
in  a  personal  God  -because  their  own  nature  demanded  it. 

Third  Week,  First  Day 

Men  have  believed  in  a  personal  God  because  of  a  deep 
desire  to  think  of  creation  as  friendly.  F.  W.  Myers,  when 
asked  what  question  he  would  put  to  the  Sphinx,  if  he  were 
given  only  one  chance,  replied  that  he  would  ask,  "Is  the 
universe  friendly?"  Some  have  tried  to  think  of  creation 
as  an  enemy  which  we  must  fight,  as  though  in  Green- 
land we  strove  to  make  verdure  grow,  although  the  soil 
and  climate  were  antagonistic.  Some  have  tried  to  think 
creation  neutral,  an  impersonal  system  of  laws  and  forces, 
which  we  must  impose  our  will  upon  as  best  we  can,  al- 
though in  the  end  the  system  is  sure  to  outlast  all  our  efforts 
and  to  bring  our  gains  to  naught.  But  at  the  heart  of  man 
is  an  irresistible  desire  to  think  creation  a  friend,  with  whose 
good  purposes  our  wills  can  be  aligned,  and  whose  power  can 
carry  our  efforts  to  victorious  ends.  Says  Gilbert  Murray, 
of  Oxford  University,  "As  I  see  philosophy  after  philosophy 
falling  into  this  unproven  belief  in  the  Friend  behind 
phenomena,  as  I  find  that  I  myself  cannot,  except  for  a 
moment  and  by  an  effort,  refrain  from  making  the  same 
assumption,  it  seems  to  me  that  perhaps  here  too  we  are 
under  the  spell  of  a  very  old  ineradicable  instinct."  But 

51 


[III-i]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

friends  are  always  persons,  and  if  creation  is  friendly  then 
God  is  in  some  sense  personal.  This  faith  is  the  radiant 
center  of  the  Gospel. 

But  thou,  when  thou  prayest,  enter  into  thine  inner 
chamber,  and  having  shut  thy  door,  pray  to  thy  Father 
who  is  in  secret,  and  thy  Father  who  seeth  in  secret  shall 
recompense  thee.  And  in  praying  use  not  vain  repetitions, 
as  the  Gentiles  do:  for  they  think  that  they  shall  be  heard 
for  their  much  speaking.  Be  not  therefore  like  unto  them: 
for  your  Father  knoweth  what  things  ye  have  need  of, 
before  ye  ask  him.  After  this  manner  therefore  pray  ye: 
Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven,  Hallowed  be  thy  name. 
Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done,  as  in  heaven,  so 
on  earth.  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread.  And  forgive 
us  our  debts,  as  we  also  have  forgiven  our  debtors.  And 
bring  us  not  into  temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  the 
evil  one.  For  if  ye  forgive  men  their  trespasses,  your 
heavenly  Father  will  also  forgive  you. — Matt.  6:  6-14. 

O  Lord,  we  would  rest  in  Thee,  for  in  Thee  alone  is  true 
rest  to  be  found.  We  would  forget  our  disappointed  hopes, 
our  fruitless  efforts,  our  trivial  aims,  and  lean  on  Thee,  our 
Comfort  and  our  Strength.  When  the  order  of  this  world 
bears  cruelly  upon  us;  when  Nature  seems  to  us  an  awful 
machine,  grinding  out  life  and  death,  without  a  reason  or 
a  purpose;  when  our  hopes  perish  in  the  grave  where  we 
lay  to  rest  our  loved  dead:  O  what  can  we  do  but  turn  to 
Thee,  whose  law  underlie th  all,  and  whose  love,  we  trust, 
is  the  end  of  all?  Thou  fillest  all  things  with  Thy  presence, 
and  dost  press  close  to  our  souls.  Still  every  passion,  rebuke 
every  doubt,  strengthen  every  element  of  good  within  us, 
that  nothing  may  hinder  the  outflow  of  Thy  life  and  power. 
In  Thee,  let  the  weak  be  full  of  might,  and  let  the  strong 
renew  their  strength.  In  Thee,  let  the  tempted  find  succor, 
the  sorrowing  consolation,  and  the  lonely  and  the  neglected 
their  Supreme  Friend,  their  faithful  Companion. 

O  Lord,  we  are  weary  of  our  old,  barren  selves.  Separate 
us  from  our  spiritual  past,  and  quicken  within  us  the  seeds 
of  a  new  future.  Transform  us  by  the  breath  of  Thy  regen- 
erating power,  that  life  may  seem  supremely  beautiful  and 
duty  our  highest  privilege,  and  the  only  real  evil  a  guilty 
conscience.  Let  us  be  no  longer  sad,  or  downcast,  or  miser- 
able, or  despairing,  vexed  by  remorse,  or  depressed  by  our 

52 


J-'AITH  IN  THE  PERSONAL  GOD         [III-2] 

failures.  Take  from  us  the  old  self.  Give  us  a  new  self, 
beautiful,  vigorous,  and  joyous.  Let  old  things  pass  away 
and  let  all  things  become  new.  Kindle  within  us  a  flame 
of  heavenly  devotion,  so  that  to  us  work  for  Thee  shall  be- 
come a  happiness,  and  rest  in  Thee  shall  become  an  energy, 
unchecked  by  fears  within  and  foes  without.  Give  us  love, 
and  then  we  shall  have  more  than  all  we  need,  for  Thou  art 
Love,  Thyself  the  Giver  and  the  Gift.  Amen. — Samuel 
McComb. 

Third  Week,  Second  Day 

Bless  Jehovah,  O  my  soul; 

And  all  that  is  within  me,  bless  his  holy  name. 

Bless  Jehovah,  O  my  soul, 

And  forget  not  all  his  benefits: 

Who  forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities; 

Who  healeth  all  thy  diseases;    -^lk 

Who  redeemeth  thy  life  from  destruction; 

Who    crowneth    thee    with    lovingkindness    and    tender 

mercies; 

Who  satisfieth  thy  desire  with  good  things, 
So  that  thy  youth  is  renewed  like  the  eagle. 

— Psalm  103:  1-5. 

Such  an  attitude  of  thankfulness  as  this  psalm  represents 
is  native  to  man's  heart.  When  he  is  glad  he  feels  grateful; 
he  has  an  irrepressible  impulse  to  thank  somebody.  As  be- 
tween a  boastful  Nebuchadnezzar — "This  great  Babylon  which 
I  have  built  ...  by  the  might  of  my  power  and  for  the  glory 
of  my  majesty"  (Dan.  4:  30) — and  the  Master,  grateful  for  the 
dawning  success  of  his  cause — "I  thank  Thee,  O  Father,  Lord 
of  heaven  and  earth"  (Matt,  n  :  25) — we  can  have  no  doubt 
which  is  the  nobler  attitude.  Man  at  his  best  always  looks 
upon  his  blessings  as  gifts,  his  powers  as  entrustments,  his 
service  as  a  debt  which  he  owes,  and  his  success  as  an  occa- 
sion of  gratitude  rather  than  pride.  But  we  cannot  be  really 
thankful  to  impersonal  power.  Little  children  blame  chairs 
for  their  falls  and  thank  apple  trees  for  their  apples,  but 
maturity  outgrows  the  folly  of  accusing  or  blessing  imper- 
sonal things.  Thankfulness,  in  any  worthy  interpretation 
of  the  term,  can  never  be  felt  except  toward  friendly  persons 
who  intended  the  blessing  for  which  we  are  glad.  A  thought- 
ful man,  therefore,  cannot  be  grateful  to  a  godless  world- 

53 


[II1-3]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

machine,  even  though  it  has  treated  him  well,  for  the  world- 
machine  never  purposed  to  treat  him  well  and  his  happiness 
is  a  lucky  accident,  with  no  good  will  to  thank  for  it.  Haeckel 
says  that  there  is  no  God — only  "mobile,  cosmic  ether." 
Imagine  a  congregation  of  people,  under  Haeckel's  leader- 
ship, rising  to  pray,  "O  Mobile  Cosmic  Ether,  blessed  be  thy 
name !"  It  is  absurd.  Unless  God  is  personal,  the  deepest 
meanings  of  gratitude  in  human  hearts  for  life  and  its  bene- 
dictions have  no  proper  place  in  the  universe. 

O  God  above  all,  yet  in  all;  holy  beyond  all  imagination, 
yet  friend  of  sinners;  who  inhabitest  the  realms  of  unfading 
light,  yet  leadest  us  through  the  shadows  of  mortal  life ;  how 
solemn  and  uplifting  it  is  even  to  think  upon  Thee!  Like 
sight  of  sea  to  wearied  eyes,  like  a  walled-in  garden  to  the 
troubled  mind,  like  home  to  wanderer,  like  a  strong  tower 
to  a  soul  pursued;  so  to  us  is  the  sound  of  Thy  name. 

But  greater  still  to  feel  Thee  in  our  heart;  like  a  river 
glorious,  cleansing,  healing,  bringing  life;  like  a  song  vic- 
torious, comforting  our  sadness,  banishing  our  care;  like  a 
voice  calling  us  to  battle,  urging  us  beyond  ourselves. 

But  greater  far  to  know  Thee  as  our  Father,  as  dear  as 
Thou  art  near;  and  ourselves  begotten  of  Thy  love,  made 
in  Thy  image,  cared  for  through  all  our  days,  never  beyond 
Thy  sight,  never  out  of  Thy  thought. 

To  think  of  Thee  is  rest;  to  know  Thee  is  eternal  life; 
to  see  Thee  is  the  end  of  all  desire ;  to  serve  Thee  is  perfect 
freedom  and  everlasting  joy.  Amen. — W.  E.  Orchard. 

Third  Week,  Third  Day 

Have  mercy  upon  me,  O  God,  according  to  thy  loving- 
kindness: 

According  to  the  multitude   of  thy  tender  mercies  blot 
out  my  transgressions. 

Wash  me  thoroughly  from  mine  iniquity, 

And  cleanse  me  from  my  sin. 

For  I  know  my  transgressions; 

And  my  sin  is  ever  before  me. 

Against  thee,  thee  only,  have  I  sinned, 

And  done  that  which  is  evil  in  thy  sight. 

Psalm  51:  1-4. 

Penitence  is  one  of  the  profoundest  impulses  in  man's 
heart.  And  man  at  his  deepest  always  feels  about  his  sin 

54 


FAITH  IN  THE  PERSONAL  GOD         [IH-3] 

as  the  Psalmist  did :  he  has  wronged  not  only  this  individual 
or  that,  but  he  has  sinned  against  the  whole  structure  of  life, 
against  whatever  Power  and  Purpose  may  be  behind  life, 
and  his  penitence  is  not  complete  until  he  cries  to  the  High- 
est, "Against  Thee,  Thee  only,  have  I  sinned."  While  men, 
therefore,  have  always  asked  each  other  for  forgiveness,  they 
have  as  well  asked  God  for  it.  But  such  an  attitude  is  utterly 
irrational  if  God  is  not  personal.  Persons  alone  care  what 
we  do,  have  purposes  that  our  sins  thwart,  have  love  that 
our  evil  grieves,  have  compassion  to  forgive  the  penitent ; 
and  to  confess  sin  to  a  world-machine — careless,  purposeless, 
loveless,  and  without  compassion — is  folly.  Yesterday  we 
saw  how  impossible  it  was  really  to  feel  grateful  to  a  material- 
ist's god;  today  imagine  congregations  of  people  addressing 
to  the  Cosmic  Ether  any  such  penitent  confessions  as  Chris- 
tians by  multitudes  continually  address  to  their  Father : 
"We  have  erred  and  strayed  from  Thy  ways  like  lost  sheep." 
Plainly  in  a  world  where  creative  power  is  impersonal  the 
deepest  meanings  of  penitence  have  no  place.  Read  over  the 
prayer  that  follows,  considering  the  futility  of  addressing 
such  a  penitent  aspiration  to  anything  impersonal ;  and  then 
really  pray  it  to  the  God  whom  Christ  revealed : 

We  beseech  Thee,  Lord,  to  behold  us  with  favor,  folk  of 
many  families  and  nations  gathered  together  in  the  peace 
of  this  roof,  weak  men  and  women  subsisting  under  the 
covert  of  thy  patience.  Be  patient  still;  suffer  us  yet  awhile 
longer — with  our  broken  purposes  of  good,  with  our  idle 
endeavors  against  evil,  suffer  us  awhile  longer  to  endure  and 
(if  it  may  be)  help  us  to  do  better.  Bless  to  us  our  extraor- 
dinary mercies;  if  the  day  come  when  these  must  be  taken, 
brace  us  to  play  the  man  under  affliction.  Be  with  our  friends, 
be  with  ourselves.  Go  with  each  of  us  to  rest;  if  any  awake, 
temper  to  them  the  dark  hours  of  watching;  and  zvhen  the 
day  returns,  return  to  us,  our  sun  and  comforter,  and  call 
us  up  with  morning  faces  and  with  morning  hearts — eager 
to  labor — eager  to  be  happy,  if  happiness  shall  be  our  portion 
— and  if  the  day  be  marked  for  sorrow,  strong  to  endure  it. 

We  thank  Thee  and  praise  Thee;  and  in  the  words  of  him 
to  whom  this  day  is  sacred,  close  our  oblation.  Amen. — 
Robert  Louis  Stevenson.1 


1  Copyright,  1914,  Charles  Scribner's  Sons.     Used  by  permission. 

55 


[III-4]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

Third  Week,  Fourth  Day 

Now  the  God  of  hope  fill  you  with  all  joy  and  peace 
in  believing,  that  ye  may  abound  in  hope,  in  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit. — Rom.  15:  13. 

For  in  hope  were  we  saved:  but  hope  that  is  seen  is 
not  hope:  for  who  hopeth  for  that  which  he  seeth?  But 
if  we  hope  for  that  which  we  see  not,  then  do  we  with 
patience  wait  for  it. — Rom.  8:  24,  25. 

Hope  is  no  fringe  on  the  garment  of  human  life;  it  is 
part  of  the  solid  texture  of  our  experience;  without  it  men 
may  exist,  but  they  cannot  live.  Now  some  minds  live  by 
hope  about  tomorrow,  or  at  the  most,  the  day  after  tomorrow, 
and  do  not  take  long  looks  ahead.  But  as  men  grow  mature 
in  thoughtfulness,  such  small  horizons  no  longer  can  content 
their  minds ;  they  seek  a  basis  for  hope  about  the  far  issue 
of  man's  struggle  and  aspiration.  They  cannot  bear  to  think 
that  creation  lacks  a  "far-off  divine  event" ;  they  cannot 
tolerate  a  universe  that  in  the  end  turns  out  to  be 


"An  eddy  of  purposeless  dust, 
Effort  unmeaning  and  vain." 


But  it  is  obvious  that  if  God  is  not  in  control  of  creation, 
with  personal  purpose  of  good  will,  directing  its  course,  there 
is  no  solid  basis  for  hope.  If  the  universe  is  in  the  hands 
of  physical  forces,  then  a  long  look  ahead  reveals  a  world 
collapsing  about  a  cold  sun,  and  humanity  annihilated  in  the 
wreck.  Some  such  finale  is  the  inevitable  end  of  a  godless 
world.  As  another  pictures  it,  mankind,  like  a  polar  bear 
on  an  ice  floe  that  is  drifting  into  warmer  zones,  will  watch 
in  growling  impotence  the  steady  dwindling  of  his  home, 
until  he  sinks  in  the  abyss.  All  optimistic  philosophies  of 
life  have  been  founded  on  faith  in  a  personal  God,  who 
purposes  good  to  his  children,  and  without  such  faith  no  hope, 
with  large  horizons,  is  reasonable.  Paul  is  fair  to  the  facts 
when  he  says,  "Having  no  hope  and  without  God  in  the 
world"  (Eph.  2:  12).  When  one  asks  why  men  have  be- 
lieved in  a  personal  God,  this  clearly  is  part  of  the  answer: 
only  a  personal  God  can  be  "the  God  of  hope." 

0  God  of  heaven  above  and  earth  beneath!  Thou  art  the 
constant  hope  of  every  age — the  reliance  of  them  that  seek 

56 


FAITH  IN  THE  PERSONAL  GOD         [III-s] 

Thee  with  thoughtfulness  and  love.  We  own  Thee  as  the 
guardian  of  our  pilgrimage;  and  when  our  steps  are  weary 
we  turn  to  Thee,  the  mystic  companion  of  our  way,  whose 
mercy  will  uphold  us  lest  we  fall.  Thou  layest  on  us  the  bur- 
den of  labor  throughout  our  days;  but  in  this  sacred  hour 
Thou  dost  lift  off  our  load,  and  make  us  partakers  of  Thy 
rest.  Thou  ever  faithful  God,  our  guide  by  cloud  and  fire! 
without  this  blest  repose  our  life  were  but  a  desert  path; 
here  we  abide  by  the  refreshing  spring,  and  pitch  our  tents 
with  joy  around  Thy  holy  hill.  Yet  when  we  seek  to  draw 
nigh  to  Thee,  Thou  art  still  above  us,  like  the  heavens.  O 
Thou  that  remainest  in  the  height,  and  covercst  Thyself  with 
the  cloud  thereof!  behold,  we  stand  around  the  mountain 
where  Thou  art;  and  if  Thou  wilt  commune  with  us,  the 
thunder  from  Thy  voice  of  love  shall  not  make  us  afraid. 
Call  up  a  spirit  from  our  midst  to  serve  Thy  will;  and  take 
away  the  veil  from  all  our  hearts,  that  with  the  eye  of  purity 
we  may  look  on  the  bright  and  holy  countenance  of  life. 
And  when  we  go  hence  to  resume  our  way,  may  it  be  with 
nobler  spirits,  with  more  faithful  courage,  and  more  generous 
will.  For  life  and  death  we  trust  ourselves  to  Thee  as 
disciples  of  Jesus  Christ.  Amen. — James  Martineau. 

Third  Week,  Fifth  Day 

Jehovah  is  the  portion  of  mine  inheritance  and  of  my  cup: 

Thou  maintainest  my  lot. 

The  lines  are  fallen  unto  me  in  pleasant  places; 

Yea,  I  have  a  goodly  heritage. 

I  will  bless  Jehovah,  who  hath  given  me  counsel; 

Yea,  my  heart  instructeth  me  in  the  night  seasons. 

I  have  set  Jehovah  always  before  me: 

Because  he  is  at  my  right  hand,  I  shall  not  be  moved. 

Therefore  my  heart  is  glad,  and  my  glory  rejoiceth: 

My  flesh  also  shall  dwell  in  safety. 

For  thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  to  Sheol; 

Neither  wilt  thou  suffer  thy  holy  one  to  see  corruption. 

Thou  wilt  show  me  the  path  of  life: 

In  thy  presence  is  fulness  of  joy; 

In  thy  right  hand  there  are  pleasures  for  evermore. 

— Psalm  16:  5-11. 

Many  things  in  human  life  bring  joy.     From  the  sense  of 
a  healthy  body  and  the  exhilaration  of  a  sunshiny  day  to  the 

57 


[III-S]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

deep  satisfactions  of  home  and  friends — there  are  numberless 
sources  of  happiness.  But  man  has  always  been  athirst  to 
find  joy  in  thinking  about  the  total  meaning  of  life.  Lack- 
ing that,  the  details  of  life  lose  radiance,  for,  in  spite  of  him- 
self, man 

"Hath  among  least  things 
An  undersense  of  greatest;  sees  the  parts 
As  parts,  but  with  a  feeling  of  the  whole." 

If  when  he  thinks  about  God,  he  can,  like  this  psalmist,  re- 
joice in  the  love  behind  life,  the  good  purpose  through 
it,  the  glorious  future  ahead  of  it,  then  all  his  other  bless- 
ings are  illumined.  Not  only  are  there  happy  things  in  life, 
but  life  itself  is  fundamentally  blessed.  But  if  when  he 
raises  his  thought  to  the  Eternal,  he  has  no  joyful  thoughts 
about  it,  sees  no  love  or  purpose  there,  then  a  pall  falls  on 
even  his  ordinary  happiness.  Alas  for  that  man  who  does 
not  like  to  think  about  life's  origin  and  destiny  and  meaning, 
because  he  has  no  joyful  faith  about  God!  Some  men  have 
what  Epictetus  called  "paralysis  of  the  soul"  every  time  they 
think  of  creation,  for  to  them  it  is  a  huge  physical  machine 
crashing  on  without  reason  or  good  will.  But  some  men 
have  such  a  joyful  faith  in  the  divine  that  their  gladness 
about  the  whole  of  life  redeems  their  sorrow  about  its 
details.  So  Samuel  Rutherford  in  prison  said,  "Jesus  Christ 
came  into  my  room  last  night  and  every  stone  flashed  like 
a  ruby."  For  the  thought  of  God  in  terms  of  friendly  per- 
sonality is  the  most  joyful  idea  of  him  that  man  has  ever 
had.  Man's  thirst  for  joy  is  one  of  the  sources  of  his  faith 
in  a  personal  God.  He  has  wanted  what  Paul  called  "joy 
and  peace  in  believing"  (Rom.  15:  13). 

We  rejoice,  O  Lord  our  God,  not  in  ourselves  nor  in  the 
firm  earth  on  which  we  tread,  nor  in  the  household,  nor  in 
the  church,  nor  in  all  the  procession  of  things  where  mankind 
moves  with  power  and  glory.  We  rejoice  in  the  Lord.  We 
rejoice  in  Thy  strength.  A  strange  joy  it  is.  Day  by  day 
we  find  ourselves  breaking  out  into  gladness  through  the 
ministration  of  the  senses,  and  by  the  play  of  inward  thought; 
but  Thou  art  never  beheld  by  us.  .  .  .  Thou  never  speakest  to 
us,  nor  do  we  feel  Thy  hand,  nor  do  we  discern  Thy  face 
of  love  and  glory  and  power.  We  break  away  from  all  other 

58 


FAITH  IN  THE  PERSONAL  GOD         [III-6] 

experiences,  and  look  up  into  the  emptiness,  as  it  seems  to 
us,  which  yet  is  full  of  life;  into  that  which  seems  cold  and 
•void,  but  wherein  moves  eternal  power;  into  the  voiceless 
and  inscrutable  realm  where  Thou  dwellest,  God  over  all, 
blessed  forever.  .  .  .  O  Lord  our  God,  how  near  Thou 
art  to  us.'  and  we  do  not  know  it.  How  near  is  the  other 
life!  and  we  do  not  feel  it.  It  clothes  us  as  with  a  garment. 
It  feeds  us.  It  shines  down  upon  us.  It  rejoices  over  us. 
.  .  .  Thither,  out  of  narrow  and  anguishful  ways,  out  of 
sorrows,  out  of  regrets,  out  of  bereavements,  we  look;  and 
already  we  are  rested  before  we  reach  it. 

Grant  unto  us,  today,  rve  beseech  Thee,  this  beatific  vision. 
Amen. — Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

Third  Week,  Sixth  Day 

For  when  one  saith,  I  am  of  Paul;  and  another,  I  am 
of  Apollos;  are  ye  not  men?  What  then  is  Apollos?  and 
what  is  Paul?  Ministers  through  whom  ye  believed;  and 
each  as  the  Lord  gave  to  him.  I  planted,  Apollos  watered; 
but  God  gave  the  increase.  So  then  neither  is  he  that 
planteth  anything,  neither  he  that  watereth;  but  God 
that  giveth  the  increase.  Now  he  that  planteth  and  he 
that  watereth  are  one:  but  each  shall  receive  his  own  re- 
ward according  to  his  own  labor.  For  we  are  God's  fel- 
low-workers: ye  are  God's  husbandry,  God's  building. — 
i  Cor.  3:  4-9. 

One  of  the  profoundest  motives  that  can  grip  man's  heart 
is  the  conviction  that  he  is  a  fellow-worker  with  the  Divine. 
To  feel  that  there  is  a  great  Cause,  on  behalf  of  which  God 
himself  is  concerned,  and  in  the  furtherance  of  which  we  can 
be  God's  instruments  and  confederates,  is  the  most  exhilarat- 
ing outlook  on  life  conceivable.  Even  people  who  deny  God  try 
to  get  this  motive  for  themselves.  One  such  man  hopes  for 
the  success  of  his  favorite  causes  in  "the  tendency  of  the 
universe" ;  another  talks  about  "the  nature  of  things  taking 
sides."  But  nothing  save  personality  has  moral  tendencies, 
and  only  persons  take  sides  in  moral  issues.  If  the  guidance 
of  the  world  is  personal,  then,  and  then  only,  can  we  rejoice 
with  confidence  in  a  great  Ally,  who  has  moral  purposes  and 
who  has  committed  to  us  part  of  his  work.  This  was  the 
Master's  motive  when  he  said,  "My  Father  worketh  even 
until  now,  and  I  work"  (John  5:  17).  But  one  clearly  sees 

59 


[III-6]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

that  such  an  inspiring  consciousness  of  cooperation  with  the 
Eternal  depended  on  the  certainty  with  which  the  Master 
called  the  Eternal  by  a  personal  name — Father.  When  men 
like  Livingstone  have  gone  out  in  sacrificial  adventure  for 
the  saving  of  men  they  have  not  banked  on  the  "tendency  of 
the  universe,"  nor  trusted  in  any  abstract  "nature  of  things 
taking  sides" ;  they  have  been  servants  of  a  personal  God, 
under  orders  from  him,  and  they  have  counted  on  personal 
guidance  in  the  service  of  a  cause  whose  issue  was  safe 
in  God's  hands. 

O  God,  we  pray  Thee  for  those  who  come  after  us,  for 
our  children,  and  the  children  of  our  friends,  and  for  all  the 
young  lives  that  are  marching  up  from  the  gates  of  birth, 
pure  and  eager,  with  the  morning  sunshine  on  their  faces. 
We  remember  with  a  pang  that  these  will  live  in  the  world 
we  are  making  for  them.  We  are  wasting  the  resources  of 
the  earth  in  our  headlong  greed,  and  they  will  suffer  want. 
We  are  building  sunless  houses  and  joyless  cities  for  our 
profit,  and  they  must  dwell  therein.  We  are  making  the 
burden  heavy  and  the  pace  of  work  pitiless,  and  they  will 
fall  wan  and  sobbing  by  the  wayside.  We  are  poisoning  the 
air  of  our  land  by  our  lies  and  our  uncleanness,  and  they 
will  breathe  it. 

O  God,  Thou  knowest  how  we  have  cried  out  in  agony 
when  the  sins  of  our  fathers  have  been  visited  upon  us,  and 
how  we  have  struggled  vainly  against  the  inexorable  fate 
that  coursed  in  our  blood  or  bound  us  in  a  prison-house  of 
life.  Save  us  from  maiming  the  innocent  ones  who  come 
after  us  by  the  added  cruelty  of  our  sins.  Help  us  to  break 
the  ancient  force  of  evil  by  a  holy  and  steadfast  will  and  to 
endow  our  children  with  purer  blood  and  nobler  thoughts. 
Grant  us  grace  to  leave  the  earth  fairer  than  we  found  it; 
to  build  upon  it  cities  of  God  in  which  the  cry  of  needless 
pain  shall  cease;  and  to  put  the  yoke  of  Christ  upon  our 
business  life  that  it  may  serve  and  not  destroy.  Lift  the 
veil  of  the  future  and  show  us  the  generation  to  come  as  it 
will  be  if  blighted  by  our  guilt,  that  our  lust  may  be  cooled 
and  we  may  walk  in  the  fear  of  the  Eternal.  Grant  us  a 
vision  of  the  far-off  years  as  they  may  be  if  redeemed  by 
the  sons  of  God,  that  we  may  take  heart  and  do  battle  for 
Thy  children  and  ours.  Amen. — Walter  Rauschenbusch. 

60 


FAITH  IN  THE  PERSONAL  GOD         [III-;] 

Third  Week,  Seventh  Day 

I  will  extol  thee,  my  God,  O  King; 

And  I  will  bless  thy  name  for  ever  and  ever. 

Every  day  will  I  bless  thee; 

And  I  will  praise  thy  name  for  ever  and  ever. 

Great  is  Jehovah,  and  greatly  to  be  praised; 

And  his  greatness  is  unsearchable. 

One  generation  shall  laud  thy  works  to  another, 

And  shall  declare  thy  mighty- acts. 

Of  the  glorious  majesty  of  thine  honor, 

And  of  thy  wondrous  works,  will  I  meditate. 

And  men  shall  speak  of  the  might  of  thy  terrible  acts; 

And  I  will  declare  thy  greatness. 

They  shall  utter  the  memory  of  thy  great  goodness, 

And  shall  sing  of  thy  righteousness. 

Jehovah  is  gracious,  and  merciful; 

Slow  to  anger,  and  of  great  lovingkindness. 

Jehovah  is  good  to  all; 

And  his  tender  mercies  are  over  all  his  works. 

All  thy  works  shall  give  thanks  unto  thee,  O  Jehovah; 

And  thy  saints  shall  bless  thee. 

— Psalm  145:  i-io. 

Adoration  springs  from  the  deeps  of  man's  spirit.  We 
nevei  can  be  content  with  looking  down  on  things  beneath 
us,  nor  with  looking  out  on  things  that  find  our  level.  We 
always  must  look  up  to  things  above  us.  As  a  mediaeval 
saint  said,  "The  soul  can  never  rest  in  things  that  are  beneath 
itself."  Worship,  therefore,  is  an  undeniable  impulse  in  man's 
heart.  Poets  worship  Beauty ;  scientists  worship  Truth ; 
every  man  of  honor  worships  Right.  That  is,  the  good,  true, 
and  beautiful  stand  above  us  calling  out  our  adoration,  and 
all  the  best  in  us  springs  from  our  worshipful  response  to 
their  appeal.  But  this  impulse  to  adore  is  never  fulfilled 
until  we  gather  up  all  life  into  spiritual  unity  and  bow  down 
in  awe  and  joy  before  God.  That  is  adoration  glorified, 
worship  crowned  and  consummated.  And  the  only  God  whom 
man  can  adore  with  awe  and  joy  is  personal.  No  impersonal 
thing  is  worshipful;  however  great  a  thing  may  be  it  still 
lies  beneath  our  soul.  No  abstract  Idea  is  worshipful ;  we 
still  are  greater  than  any  idea  that  we  can  hold.  Only  God, 
thought  of  in  personal  terms  but  known  to  be  greater  than 
any  terms  which  human  life  can  use,  is  adorable.  Men  have 
beiieved  in  Him  because  worship  is  man's  holiest  impulse. 

6I 


[III-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

Such  are  the  experiences  of  man,  with  which  faith  in  a 
personal  God  is  inseparably  interwoven.  Our  demand  for  a 
friendly  creation,  our  deepest  impulses  to  thanksgiving,  peni- 
tence, hope,  joy,  cooperation  with  the  Eternal,  and  adoration 
of  the  highest — all  require  personality  in  God.  As  Professor 
William  James  said,  "The  universe  is  no  longer  a  mere  It 
to  us,  but  a  Thou  if  we  are  religious." 

O  Lord  our  God,  Thy  grsntness  is  unsearchable,  and  the 
glory  of  Thy  presence  has  overwhelmed  us.  Thou  art  hidden 
in  excess  of  light;  and  if  we  were  to  behold  Thee  in  the  great 
sphere  in  which  Thou  art  living,  none  of  us  would  dare  to 
draw  near  to  Thee.  Our  imperfections,  our  transgressions, 
our  secret  thoughts,  our  wild  impulses,  that  at  times  come 
surging  in  upon  us,  are  such  that  we  should  be  ashamed  to 
stand  before  the  All-searching  Eye.  Our  lives  are  before 
Thee,  open  as  a  book,  and  Thou  readest  every  word  and 
every  letter  thereof.  Blessed  be  Thy  name,  Thou  hast  taught 
us  to  come  to  Thee  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  through 
a  friend,  and  thou  hast  taught  us  to  draw  near  to  Thee  in 
person  through  the  familiar  way  of  Fatherhood;  from  our 
childhood  we  have  said,  Our  Father,  and  in  this  way  we  are 
not  afraid;  in  this  way  we  come  familiarly  and  boldly:  not 
irreverently,  but  with  the  familiarity  which  love  gives.  Thou 
hast  poured  the  light  of  Thy  love  upon  the  path  which  we 
tread,  and  Thou  hast  taught  us  to  come  rejoicing  before 
Thee.  .  .  .  Open  Thy  hand  and  Thy  heart,  and  say  to  every 
one  of  us,  Peace  be  unto  you!  Amen. — Henry  Ward  Beecher. 


COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 
I 

We  have  been  using  freely  the  most  momentous  word  in 
human  speech  as  though  we  clearly  understood  its  meaning. 
We  have  been  speaking  of  God  as  though  the  import  of  the 
term  were  plain.  But  most  of  us,  asked  to  state  precisely  what 
we  mean  by  "God,"  would  welcome  such  a  refuge  from  our 
confusion  as  Joubert  sought.  "It  is  not  hard  to  know  God," 
said  he,  "provided  one  will  not  force  oneself  to  define  him." 
Many  people  who  stoutly  claim  to  believe  in  God  live  in  per- 
petual vacillation  as  to  what  they  mean  by  him.  Writes  one: 

62 


FAITH  IN  THE  PERSONAL  GOD         [III-c] 

"God  to  my  mind  is  an  impersonal  being,  but  whether  for 
convenience  or  through  sheer  impotence  I  pray  to  him  as  a 
personal  being  ...  I  know  I  talk  on  both  sides  of  the 
fence,  but  that  is  just  where  I  am." 

At  times,  indeed,  some  question  whether  there  is  any  need 
to  think  or  say  what  "God"  may  signify.  They  call  him  by 
vague  names — the  All,  the  Infinite.  In  moods  of  exalted  feel- 
ing, impatient  of  definition,  they  wish  to  be  left  alone  with 
their  experience  of  the  Eternal;  they  resent  the  intrusion  of 
theology,  as  a  poet,  lost  in  wonder  at  a  landscape,  might  resent 
the  coming  of  surveyors  with  their  clanking  chains.  So  Walt 
Whitman  wanted  to  see  the  stars  rather  than  hear  the  astron- 
omer, and  after  listening  to  the  learned  lecture,  with  its  charts 
and  diagrams,  he  says, 

"I  became  tired  and  sick, 

Till  rising  and  gliding  out  I  wandered  off  by  myself, 
In  the  mystical  moist  night  air,  and   from  time  to  time 
Looked  up  in  perfect  silence  at  the  stars." 

But,  for  all  that,  we  well  may  be  thankful  for  astronomers. 
At  times  the  "mystical,  moist  night  air"  is  absent ;  we  do  not 
wish  to  "look  up  in  perfect  silence  at  the  stars" ;  and,  even 
though  we  know  in  advance  that  they  are  bound  to  be  inade- 
quate, we  do  want  as  clear  and  worthy  ideas  as  possible  about 
the  universe.  Moreover,  when  such  ideas  are  ours,  looking 
up  in  perfect  silence  at  the  stars  is  more  impressive  than  it 
ever  was  before.  No  more  can  men  content  themselves  with 
a  vague  consciousness  of  God.  Spirits  like  Wordsworth  have 
raptures  of  which  they  sing, 

"In  such  access  of  mind,  in  such  high  hour 
Of  visitation  from  the  living  God, 
Thought  was  not — in  enjoyment  it  expired." 

In  communion  with  nature,  in  love  for  family,  in  fellowship 
with  God,  such  hours  may  come,  but  nature,  family,  and  God 
must  also  be  the  objects  of  understanding  thought.  Days  of 
vital  need,  if  not  of  mental  doubt,  inevitably  come  when  it  is 
impossible  any  longer  to  use  a  term  like  "God"  without  know- 
ing what  we  mean. 

The  special  urgency  of  this  is  felt  by  most  of  us  because 
as  children  we  were  taught  to  picture  the  Divine  in  terms  of 


[III-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

personality.  The  God  of  the  Bible  is  personal.  Little  that 
persons  do,  save  sinning,  is  omitted  from  the  catalogue  of 
God's  activities  as  he  is  pictured  for  us  in  the  Scripture.  He 
knows,  loves,  purposes,  warns,  rebukes,  allures,  rewards,  and 
punishes,  as  only  persons  can.  And  all  our  relationships  with 
him  are  clearly  personal.  When  we  pray  we  say  "Our 
Father" ;  when  we  seek  our  duty  we  ask,  "What  wilt  thou 
have  me  to  do?"  God  is  He  and  Thou,  not  It,  and  friendship 
is  the  ideal  relation  of  all  souls  with  him. 

Moreover,  in  our  maturity  we  are  not  likely  to  be  inter- 
ested in  a  God  who  is  not  personal.  Whoever  curiously  asks 
why  he  believes  in  God,  will  find  not  simply  reasons  but 
causes  for  his  faith,  and  will  perceive  that  the  causes  of  faith 
lie  back  of  the  reasons  for  it.  Vital  need  always  precedes  the 
arguments  by  which  we  justify  its  satisfaction.  A  man  eats 
one  thing  and  shuns  another  on  principles  of  dietetics  that  can 
be  defended  before  his  intelligence;  but  behind  all  such 
sophisticated  reasons  stands  the  vital  cause  of  eating — hunger. 
So  back  of  intellectual  arguments  for  belief  in  God  lies  the 
initial  cause  of  faith :  men  are  hungry.  Men  believe  in  God 
because  they  hunger  for  a  world  that  is  not  chance  and  chao:. 
but  that  is  guidec  by  a  Purpose.  They  believe  in  God,  b  • 
cause  in  their  struggles  after  righteousness  they  hunger  for 
a  Divine  Ally  in  whom  righteousness  has  its  origin,  its  ground 
and  destiny.  They  believe  in  Goc1  because  they  hunger  for 
confidence  that  Someone  cares  about  our  race  in  its  conflicts 
and  defeats  and  because  in  their  individual  experience  they 
want  a  friend.  Without  such  faith  man  feels  himself  to  be, 
in  Goethe's  phrase,  "a  troubled  wanderer  upon  a  darkened 
earth."  Plainly  this  elemental  human  hunger  for  purpose, 
righteousness,  and  friendship  calls  for  something  akin  to  per- 
sonality in  God.  Only  persons  have  purpose,  character,  and 
friendliness.  The  vital  motives  which  lead  men  to  seek  God's 
comfort,  forgiveness,  guidance,  and  cooperation  plainly  imply 
his  personality.  Things  do  not  forgive  us,  love  us,  nor  pur- 
pose good  concerning  us,  nor  can  any  thing  be  imagined  so 
subtle  and  so  powerful  as  to  satisfy  the  needs  on  account  of 
which  men  come  to  God.  If  God  is  not  personal,  he  can  feel 
no  concern  for  human  life  and  a  God  of  no  concern  is  of  no 
consequence. 

The  philosophers  of  India,  with  a  well-reasoned  pantheistic 
system  and  centuries  to  make  their  philosophy  effective,  have 

64 


FAITH  IN  THE  PERSONAL  GOD         [III-c] 

failed  to  quell  this  deathless  thirst  for  a  God  who  counts. 
Every  wayside  shrine  of  Hinduism  incarnates  the  old  faith 
in  gods  conceived  as  friends,  not  things ;  and  Buddha,  who 
taught  impersonal  deity,  is  now  himself  adored  as  the  Per- 
sonal Lord  of  Love  and  Blessedness.  Wherever  one  finds 
vital  religion  one  finds  that  God  is  no  dry  impersonal  ab- 
straction, but  man's  friend.  Boscamen,  speaking  of  the  Egyp- 
tian Book  of  the  Dead  and  of  the  Chaldean  Tablets,  says: 
"Six  thousand  years  ago  in  Egypt  and  Chaldea — it  is  not 
dread,  but  the  grateful  love  of  a  child  to  his  father,  of  friend 
to  friend,  that  meets  us  in  the  oldest  books  of  the  world." 
And  when  one  turns  from  the  oldest  to  the  newest  books  this 
inner  demand  of  man's  religious  life  has  not  ceased ;  it  has 
been  refined  and  confirmed.  "The  All  would  not  be  the  All 
unless  it  contained  a  Personality,"  said  Victor  Hugo.  "That 
Personality  is  God." 

Biography  is  lavish  in  illustrations  of  this  need  in  man's 
religious  life.  The  biographer  of  Theodore  Parker,  the  free- 
lance preacher  of  Boston,  remarks :  "In  his  theology  God  was 
neither  personal  nor  impersonal,  but  a  reality  transcending 
these  distinctions.  In  his  devotions  God  was  as  personal  as 
his  own  father  or  mother,  and  he  prayed  to  him  as  such,  dar- 
ingly indifferent  to  the  anthropomorphisms  of  his  unfettered 
speech."  When  one  passes  from  speculation  to  religion,  he 
always  comes  into  a  realm  where  only  a  personal  God  will 
do.  On  this  point  even  confessed  unbelievers  furnish  con- 
firmation. One  who  calls  himself  an  agnostic  writes :  "At 
times  in  the  silence  of  the  night  and  in  rare  lonely  moments, 
I  experience  a  sort  of  communion  of  myself  with  Something 
Great  that  is  not  myself.  Then  the  Universal  Scheme  of 
things  has  on  me  the  effect  of  a  sympathetic  Person,  and  m> 
communion  therewith  takes  on  a  quality  of  fearless  worship 
These  moments  happen,  and  they  are  to  me  the  supreme  fact 
in  my  religious  life."  Always  for  the  purposes  of  vital  reli- 
gion, God  must  have  on  us  the  "effect  of  a  sympathetic  Per^ 
son." 

II 

When  one,  however,  subjects  this  need  of  his  religious 
life  to  searching  thought,  what  difficulty  he  encounters !  Mul- 
titudes, if  they  were  candid,  would  confess  what  a  college 
senior  wrote:  "When  I  am  just  thinking  about  God  in  a 

/  * 


[III-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

speculative  or  philosophical  way,  I  generally  think  of  him  as 
impersonal,  but  for  practical  purposes  I  think  of  him  as  per- 
sonal." Many  folks  feel  thus  distraught;  at  the  heart  of  their 
religious  life  is  the  paralyzing  doubt,  that  in  a  universe  like 
this  to  think  of  God  as  personal  is  absurd.  If  a  train  moving 
a  mile  a  minute  should  leave  the  earth,  it  must  travel  40,000,- 
ooo  years  before  it  would  reach  the  nearest  star.  The  Creator 
of  such  a  world  is  not  readily  reduced  to  the  similitude  of 
human  life.  Once  men  lived  on  a  flat  earth,  small  in  compass 
and  cosily  tucked  beneath  the  sky's  coverlet,  but  now  the 
world's  vastness  beggars  imagination.  As  an  astronomer  re- 
marked, coming  from  a  session  with  his  telescope,  "This  does 
away  with  a  six-foot  god;  you  cannot  shake  hands  with  the 
Creator  of  this."  Men  used  to  suppose  that  Arcturus  was  a 
single  star,  but  now  new  telescopes  reveal  Arcturus  as  a 
galaxy  of  stars,  thousands  in  number,  with  interstellar  spaces 
so  immense  that  thought  breaks  down  in  spanning  them  and 
imagination  even  cannot  make  the  leap.  Is  the  God  of  such 
a  universe  to  be  conceived  in  terms  of  a  magnified  man? 

So  to  picture  deity  seems  at  first  sight  a  survival  of  mere 
childishness.  Professor  John  Fiske,  of  Harvard,  has  told  us 
that  when  he  was  a  boy  God  always  conjured  up  in  his 
imagination  the  figure  of  a  venerable  bookkeeper,  with  white 
flowing  beard,  standing  behind  a  high  desk  and  writing  down 
the  bad  deeds  of  John  Fiske.  How  many  of  us  can  recall 
such  early  crude  and  childish  thoughts  of  God !  A  mother 
asked  her  young  daugher  what  she  was  drawing.  "A  picture 
of  God,"  was  the  answer.  "But  no  one  knows  what  God 
looks  like,"  the  mother  said.  "They  will,"  came  the  rejoinder, 
"when  I  get  through."  We  all  began  with  some  such  prim- 
itive idea  of  deity.  Indeed,  these  early  conceptions  long  per- 
sist in  many  minds,  as  the  following  statements,  written  by 
college  students,  indicate :  "I  think  of  God  as  real,  actual 
skin  and  blood  and  bones,  something  we  shall  see  with  our 
eyes  some  day,  no  matter  what  lives  we  lead  on  earth."  "It 
may  be  a  remnant  of  youth,  but  anyhow,  every  time  I  think 
of  God  there  appears  a  vague  image  of  a  man,  with  all  mem- 
bers of  the  body,  just  enormously  large."  "I  have  always 
pictured  him  according  to  a  description  in  Paradise  Lost  as 
seated  upon  a  throne,  while  around  are  angels  playing  on 
harps  and  singing  hymns."  "I  think  of  God  as  having  bodily 
form  and  being  much  larger  than  the  average  man.  He  has 

66 


FAITH  IN  THE  PERSONAL  GOD         [III-c] 

a  radiant  countenance  beaming  with  love  and  compassion.  He 
is  erect  and  upright,  fearless  and  brave."  2 

No  one  of  us  may  be  contemptuous  of  such  crude  ideas ; 
we  all  possessed  them  once.  Indeed  the  loss  of  them,  with 
their  picture  of  deity,  clear  in  feature  and  distinct  in  outline, 
has  been  to  some  a  shock  from  which  faith  has  not  recovered. 
When  increasing  knowledge  discredited  our  immature  theol- 
ogy, and  our  world  immeasurably  widened,  the  very  human 
God  of  our  first  imaginations  was  lost  among  the  stars.  We 
learned  that  this  is  a  universe  where  the  light  that  falls  upon 
our  eyes  tonight  left  the  far  heavens  when  Abraham  was 
shepherding  on  Syrian  hills.  The  Christian  Gospel  of  the 
personal  Father  which  once  was  good  news  became  a  serious 
problem.  We  still  may  cling  to  the  old  meanings  of  our  reli- 
gious faith ;  still  we  may  pray  in  hours  of  need  as  though  our 
childhood's  God  were  really  there;  but  at  times  we  suspect 
that  we  are  clinging  to  the  beauty  of  an  early  memory  while 
reluctantly  we  lose  conviction  of  its  truth.  Many  modern 
men  and  women  can  understand  the  plight  of  the  famous  Dr. 
Jowett  of  Oxford,  who,  so  runs  the  tradition,  inserted  "used 
to"  in  a  muffled  voice,  when  he  recited  the  creed:  "I  used  to 
believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty." 

With  such  misgivings,  whether  as  habitual  disturbers  of  our 
faith  or  as  occasional  moods  of  unbelief  that  come  and  go, 
most  of  us  must  be  familiar.  What  Charles  Darwin  is  re- 
ported to  have  said  about  himself,  many  if  they  spoke  frankly 
would  say  too :  "Sometimes  I  feel  a  warm  sense  of  a  personal 
God,  and  then" — with  a  shake  of  his  head — "it  goes  away." 

Ill 

Whatever  may  be  our  theology,  the  fact  is  plain  that  the 
denial  of  a  personal  God  solves  no  problem.  For  if  we  may 
not  think  of  God  in  terms  of  personality,  the  query  still 
remains,  which  was  there  before — in  what  terms  shall  we  con-  / 
ceive  of  the  Eternal?  In  a  discussion  on  the  nature  of  the 
sky,  one  boy,  denying  the  idea  of  a  solid  canopy,  exclaimed, 
"There  ain't  any  sky."  Said  the  other,  seeing  how  little  this 
negation  solved  the  problem,  "Well,  what  is  it  that  ain't?" 
Some  such  inquiry  one  must  put  to  his  doubts  about  God's 

'From  a  questionnaire,  "Belie*  in  God  and  Immortality,"  by  Prof.  James 
H.  Leuba. 

67 


[III-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

personality.  Though  we  may  deny  a  personal  God,  neverthe- 
less in  the  place  where  he  once  stood,  creator  and  sustainer 
of  all  existence,  is  Something  that  we  do  think  of  somehow. 
We  may  have  but  little  of  Carlyle's  sublime  imagination ; 
may  not  easily  transport  ourselves  to  stand  with  him  on  the 
far  northern  cliff,  "behind  him  all  Europe  and  Africa  fast 
asleep,  except  the  watchmen,  and  before  him  the  silent  Im- 
mensity and  Palace  of  the  Eternal,  whereof  our  sun  is  but 
the  porch-lamp."  Yet  who  of  us,  regarding  the  illimitable 
universe,  on  the  far  outskirts  of  which  our  little  earth  is 
whirling,  so  minute  that  through  the  strongest  telescope  from 
the  nearest  star  its  conflagration  would  be  quite  invisible,  has 
escaped  the  sense  of  a  Universal  Power?  And  the  human 
mind  cannot  so  keep  itself  at  home  in  little  tasks  and  pleasures 
as  to  evade  the  question :  How  shall  we  think  of  the  Power 
that  made  the  universe?  In  what  terms?  By  what  analogies? 
Hours  of  revelation  come  in  every  serious  life  when  no  desire 
compares  in  urgency  with  the  desire  to  know  the  character  of 
the  Eternal.  It  does  make  a  prodigious  difference  what  hands 
hold  the  leash  of  the  universe. 

This  second  fact  is  also  clear,  that  if  we  are  to  think  of  the 
Eternal  at  all,  we  must  think  in  terms  of  something  drawn 
from  our  experience.  When  we  sing  of  Paradise  we  speak 
of  golden  streets  and  gates  of  pearl,  and  Thoreau  remarks 
that,  "arriving  in  heaven,  he  expects  to  find  pine  trees  there. 
Such  words  we  do  not  take  literally,  but  such  words  we  can- 
not utterly  avoid,  for  if  we  are  to  speak  at  all  of  the  unknown 
glory,  we  must  use  pictures  from  the  known.  So  we  think  of 
God  in  human  symbols.  We  cannot  catch  him  in  an  abstract 
definition  as  though  a  boy  with  a  butterfly  net  should  capture 
the  sun  at  noon.  Our  minds  are  not  fitted  for  such  enterprise. 
Of  necessity  we  take  something  homely,  familiar,  close  at 
hand,  and  lifting  it  up  as  far  as  we  can  reach,  say  God  is 
most  like  that.  No  one  who  thinks  at  all  of  the  Eternal  es- 
capes this  necessity. 

By  this  method  the  materialist  reaches  his  philosophy. 
Haeckel  laughs  to  scorn  the  opening  clause  of  the  "Apostles' 
Creed."  "I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  maker  of 
heaven  and  earth" — for  such  faith  no  words  are  contemptu- 
ous enough.  This  denial  does  not  mean  however  that  Haeckel 
has  no  faith;  he  deliberately  offers  a  creedal  substitute  which 
runs  in  part:  I  believe  in  a  "chemical  substance  of  a  viscous 

68 


FAITH  IN  THE  PERSONAL  GOP         [III-c] 

character,  having  albuminous  matter  and  water  as  its  chief 
constituents."  In  such  terms  does  Haeckel  think  of  the 
Eternal.  A  professor  of  medicine  has  remarked  that  such  a 
theory  reduces  all  reality  to  "phosphorus  and  glue."  When 
some  Psalmist  cries,  "Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,"  nothing 
substantial  is  speaking  or  is  being  spoken  to  save  phosphorus 
and  glue!  When  an  Italian  patriot  cries,  "The  time  for  dy- 
ing comes  to  all,  but  the  time  for  dishonoring  oneself  ought 
never  to  come,"  nothing  is  real  and  causal  save  phosphorus 
and  glue !  And  every  gracious  and  redeeming  deed  in  his- 
tory from  the  love  of  mothers  to  the  cross  of  Christ  has  been 
a  complicated  working  out  of  phosphorus  and  glue!  In  what- 
ever labored  phrases  he  may  state  his  case,  the  materialist's 
method  there  is  obvious ;  he  has  taken  physical  energy,  of 
whose  presence  in  his  own  body  he  is  first  assured,  and  whose 
reality  he  has  then  read  out  into  the  world,  and  this  homely 
and  familiar  experience  he  has  lifted  up  as  far  as  he  can 
reach  to  say,  the  Eternal  is  most  like  that. 

So  far  as  method  is  concerned,  the  thcist  of  necessity  travels 
the  same  road ;  only  he  insists  on  a  nobler  symbol  than  phys- 
ical energy  in  terms  of  which  to  think  of  God.  He  takes 
mind.  He  says  in  effect :  There  may  be  wide  stretches  of  the 
universe  where  our  intellects  meet  no  answer  and  find  no 
meaning.  But  in  much  of  the  universe  we  do  see  meaning; 
and  how  can  intelligence  find  sense  where  intelligence  has  not 
put  sense?  A  few  scratches  on  a  cliff's  face  in  Assyria,  after 
centuries  of  neglect,  rendered  up  their  meaning  to  the  mind 
of  Rawlinson.  They  were  themselves  the  work  of  intelli- 
gence, and  intelligence  could  read  them.  So,  the  theist  contin- 
ues, the  universe  is  in  part  at  least  intelligible.  Our  minds 
fit  into  it  and  are  answered  by  it.  We  can  trace  its  laws  and 
predict  its  movements.  Man  first  worked  out  the  nature  of 
the  ellipse  in  theoretical  geometry,  and  then  telescopes  later 
showed  the  gigantic  ellipses  of  planetary  orbits  in  the  heavens. 
Can  it  be  that  this  intelligible  world,  readable  by  mind,  is 
itself  essentially  mindless?  As  easily  believe  that  the  notes  of 
Wagner's  operas  were  accidentally  blown  together  by  a 
whirlwind  and  yet  are  playable  by  man !  Therefore  the  theist 
believes  the  universe  to  be  rational ;  he  takes  mind  as  he  has 
known  it  in  himself,  and  lifting  it  as  high  as  he  can  reach, 
cries,  God  is  most  like  that. 

Sp  far  as  the  general  method  of  approach  is  concerned,  the 

69 


[III-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

Christian  travels  the  same  road  to  his  idea  of  God.  Only  he 
cannot  believe  that  the  best  he  knows  is  too  good  or  too 
great  to  be  a  symbol  in  terms  of  which  to  think  of  the  Eternal. 
Therefore  he  will  not  take  a  byproduct  of  experience  such 
as  physical  energy,  nor  a  section  of  personality  such  as  mind; 
he  takes  the  full  orb  of  personality,  self-conscious  being  that 
knows  and  purposes  and  loves,  and  he  affirms  that  God  is 
most  like  this.  Such  in  its  simplest  form  is  the  Christian 
assertion  of  God's  personality. 

In  one  of  his  noblest  passages  Martineau  has  put  into  classic 
form  this  necessity,  which  we  have  been  discussing,  of  think- 
ing about  God  in  terms  of  human  experience :  "God,  being 
infinite,  can  never  be  fully  comprehended  by  our  minds ; 
whatever  thought  of  him  be  there,  his  real  nature  must  still 
transcend :  there  will  yet  be  deep  after  deep  beyond,  within 
that  light  ineffable;  and  what  we  see,  compared  with  what 
we  do  not  see,  will  be  as  the  raindrop  to  the  firmament. 
Our  conception  of  him  can  never  correspond  with  the  reality, 
so  as  to  be  without  omission,  disproportion,  or  aberration ; 
but  can  only  represent  the  reality,  and  stand  for  God  within 
our  souls,  till  nobler  thoughts  arise  and  reveal  themselves 
as  his  interpreters.  And  this  is  precisely  what  we  mean 
by  a  symbolical  idea.  The  devotee  who  prostrates  him- 
self before  a  black  stone, — the  Egyptian  who  in  his  prayers 
was  haunted  by  the  ideal  form  of  the  graceful  ibis  or  the 
monstrous  sphinx — the  Theist  who  bends  beneath  the  starry 
porch  that  midnight  opens  to  the  temple  of  the  universe — 
the  Christian  who  sees  in  heaven  a  spirit  akin  to  that  which 
divinely  lived  in  Galilee,  and  with  glorious  pity  died  on  Cal- 
vary— all  alike  assume  a  representation  of  him  whose  im- 
measurable nature  they  can  neither  compass  nor  escape.  And 
the  only  question  is,  whether  the  conception  they  portray  upon 
the  wall  of  their  ideal  temple  is  an  abominable  idol,  or  a  true 
and  sanctifying  mediatorial  thought." 

IV 

In  their  endeavor  thus  to  think  of  God  in  terms  of  person- 
ality, some  are  perplexed  because  in  their  imagination  a  per- 
son is  inseparable  from  flesh.  "I  think  of  God  as  a  personal 
being,"  writes  a  college  student.  "A  personal  being  would 
have  a  form  that  you  could  see  or  touch."  But  this  would  be 

70 


FAITH  IN  THE  PERSONAL  GOD         [III-c] 

true  only  if  the  grossest  materialism  were  accepted,  and  the 
spiritual  life  declared  to  be  the  product  of  brain  as  digestive 
fluids  are  of  salivary  glands.  On  any  other  basis,  person- 
ality is  not  indissolubly  bound  to  body  nor  by  it  necessarily 
delimited.  A  man  cannot  hear  without  his  ear,  but  he  is  not 
his  ear ;  he  cannot  hear  without  the  auditory  nerve,  but  he 
is  not  the  auditory  nerve ;  he  cannot  hear  without  the  temporal 
lobe  of  the  brain,  but  he  is  not  the  brain  nor  any  portion 
of  it.  These  may  be  the  instruments  which  he  uses ;  he  is 
free  when  they  are  well,  hampered  when  they  are  brokea, 
and  at  last  he  is  separable  from  them  all.  John  Quincy  Adams 
at  the  age  of  eighty  met  a  friend  upon  a  Boston  street.  "Good 
morning,"  said  the  friend,  "and  how  is  John  Quincy  Adams 
today?"  "Thank  you,"  was  the  ex-president's  reply,  "John 
Quincy  Adams  himself  is  well,  quite  well,  I  thank  you.  But 
the  house  in  which  he  lives  at  present  is  becoming  dilapidated. 
It  is  tottering  upon  its  foundation.  Time  and  the  seasons 
have  nearly  destroyed  it.  Its  roof  is  pretty  well  worn  out. 
Its  walls  are  much  shattered  and  it  trembles  with  every 
wind.  The  old  tenement  is  becoming  almost  uninhabitable 
and  I  think  John  Quincy  Adams  will  have  to  move  out  of  it 
soon.  But  he  himself  is  quite  well,  quite  well."  Such  a  con- 
ception of  man  as  being  a  permanent  personality  and  having 
a  temporary  body  is  essential  to  any  worthy  meaning  when  we 
use  personal  terms  about  God. 

With  such  an  elevated  thought,  however,  of  what  person- 
ity  does  mean,  it  soon  is  evident  that  no  other  reality  with 
which  we  deal  is  so  worthy  to  be  the  symbol  of  an  Eternal 
Spirit.  Is  one  perplexed  that  God,  who  is  invisible,  should 
be  pictured  in  the  similitude  of  human  persons?  But  we  are 
invisible.  The  outward  husks  and  fleshly  garment  of  our 
iends  we  indeed  have  seen,  but  upon  the  friend  himself — 
nsciousness,  love,  purpose,  ideal,  and  character — no  eye  has 
ked.  No  mirror  ever  has  been  strong  enough  to  show  us 
ourselves.  In  every  homely  conversation  this  ineffable  mir- 
acle is  wrought:  out  of  the  unseen  where  I  dwell,  I  signal  by 
word  and  gesture  to  you  back  in  the  unseen  where  you  dwell. 
We  are  inhabitants  now  of  the  intangible  and  unseen  world; 
we  are  as  invisible  as  God. 

Indeed,  personality  is  essentially  the  most  unlimited  reality 
with  which  we  deal ;  in  comparison  a  solar  system  is  a  little 
thing.  Consider  memory,  by  which  we  can  retrace  our  youth- 

71 


[III-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

ful  days,  build  our  shanties  once  again  at  brooksides,  replay 
our  games,  and  recapitulate  the  struggles  and  the  joys  of  the 
first  days  at  school.  Nothing  in  all  the  universe  can  remem- 
ber except  persons.  Were  we  not  so  familiar  with  this  ele- 
ment in  human  greatness,  we  would  more  often  pause  to  ex- 
claim, as  did  Augustine,  fifteen  centuries  ago,  "Great  is  the 
power  of  memory.  Amazement  overcomes  me  when  I  think 
of  it.  And  yet  men  go  abroad  to  gaze  upon  the  mountains,  the 
broad  rivers,  the  wide  ocean,  the  courses  of  the  stars,  and  pass 
themselves,  the  crowning  wonder,  by!"  Consider  imagination, 
by  which,  sitting  still  in  body  we  can  project  ourselves  around 
the  world,  can  walk  down  Princes  Street  in  Edinburgh,  or 
stand  in  mingled  awe  and  condemnation  before  the  tomb  <">f 
Napoleon  in  Paris,  or  rise  uncovered  before  the  majesty  of 
the  Matterhorn.  Nothing  in  all  the  universe  can  do  that 
except  persons.  Were  full  power .  to  act  wherever  we  cap. 
think  added  to  our  gifts,  we  should  come  so  near  to  incipient 
omnipresence  as  to  be  in  dread  of  our  responsibility.  Con- 
sider love,  by  which  we  live  not  so  much  where  our  bodies  are 
as  where  our  friends  and  family  may  be.  Love  expands  the 
individual  until  his  real  life  is  independent  of  geography. 
Says  one  lover  to  another: 

"The  widest  land 

Doom  takes  to  part  us,  leaves  thy  heart  in  mine 
With  pulses  that  beat  double." 

Many  a  mother  in  America  has  lived  in  the  trenches  of 
France ;  many  a  man  has  found  that  what  might  happen  to 
him  where  his  body  was  could  not  be  compared  with  what 
might  happen  to  him  where  his  friendships  were;  and  as  we 
grow  in  love  and  loyalty  we  find  ourselves  scattered  all  over 
creation.  How  far  such  an  expansion  of  life  may  go  our 
Lord  revealed  when  he  said,  "Inasmuch  as  ye  did  it  unto  one 
of  these,  my  brethren,  even  these  least,  ye  did  it  unto  me." 
(Matt.  25:  40.)  Nothing  in  heaven  above  or  on  the  earth 
beneath  can  so  extend  itself  in  love  save  persons. 

Finally,  consider  creative  power  by  which  human  beings 
project  themselves  into  the  future,  and,  with  masterful  ideals 
in  mind,  lay  hold  on  circumstance  and  bend  it  to  their  will. 
As  if  he  shared  creative  power  with  the  Eternal,  an  engineer 
summons  nature's  forces  to  his  bidding  and  lays  his  will  upon 

72 


FAITH  IN  THE  PERSONAL  GOD         [III-c] 

them,  until  where  nothing  was  a  structure  stands  that  mankind 
may  use  for  centuries.  Nothing  in  all  the  universe  can  so 
•create  except  persons.  In  that  essentially  creative  act  where 
deathless  ideas  and  harmonies  are  given  being  by  poets  and 
musicians,  so  that  something  out  of  nothing  is  brought  to  pass 
by  personality,  man  faces  a  mystery  as  abysmal  as  God's  mak- 
ing of  the  world.  "Paradise  Lost"  is  wonderful;  but  Yiot 
half  as  wonderful  as  the  creative  personality  itself  who  years 
before  projected  it.  "An  inward  prompting,"'  Milton  says, 
"which  now  grew  daily  upon  me,  that  by  labor  and  intense 
stud\-,  joined  with  the  strong  propensity  of  nature,  I  might 
perhaps  leave  something  so  written  to  after  times  as  they 
should  not  willingly  let  it  die."  Nothing  can  so  create  save 
personality. 

Personality  is  not  so  limited  that  we  should  be  ashamed  to 
think  of  God  in  terms  of  it.  Rather,  of  all  realities  with  which 
we  deal,  personality  alone,  invisible,  reaching  back  in  memory, 
reaching  out  in  imagination,  expanding  itself  in  love,  and 
laying  hold  upon  the  future  with  creative  power,  is  a  worthy 
symbol  of  the  Eternal  Spirit. 

Even  when  the  meaning  of  personality  has  been  so  en- 
larged and  elevated,  we  should  not  leave  our  statement  of 
belief  in  God  as  though  our  experience  of  personality  were  a 
mould  into  which  our  thought  of  him  is  poured  and  so  delim- 
ited. We  are  not  presumptuous  Lilliputians,  running  out  with 
verbal  stakes  and  threads,  to  pin  down  the  tall,  majestic 
Gulliver  of  the  Eternal  and  dance  in  theological  exultation 
round  our  capture.  We  know  better  than  that.  We  under- 
stand how  insufficient  is  every  human  name  for  God.  We 
know  that  when  we  have  said  our  best — "How  unsearchable 
are  his  judgments  and  his  ways  past  tracing  out!"  (Rom. 
ii:T33). 

Nothing  more  has  marred  the  Christian  message  and  dis- 
credited the  Christian  faith  than  the  unwise  presumption  that 
has  forced  its  definitions  into  the  secrets  of  the  Infinite.  "It 
is  enough  to  say,"  exclaims  Leslie  Stephen,  "that  they  de- 
fined the  nature  of  God  Almighty  with  an  accuracy  from 
which  modest  naturalists  would  shrink  in  describing  the 
genesis  of  a  black  beetle."  The  antidote  to  .such  vain  pride  of 
theology  is  found  in  the  wholesome  modesty  of  the  Bible. 
There  man  enquires,  "Canst  thou  by  searching  find  out  God? 
Caast  thou  find  out  the  Almighty  unto  perfection?  It  is  high 


[III-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

as  heaven;  what  canst  thou  do?  Deeper  than  Sheol ;  what 
canst  thou  know?"  (Job  11:7).  There  God  replies:  "As  the 
heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth,  so  are  my  ways  higher- 
than  your  ways  and  my  thoughts  than  your  thoughts"  (Isa. 
55:9).  Scripture  bears  abundant  testimony  to  the  symbolic 
nature  of  our  human  terms  for  God.  "Like  as  a  father  pitieth 
his  children,  so  Jehovah  pitieth  them  that  fear  him"  (Psalm 
103:13)-  "As  one  whom  his  mother  comforteth,  so  will  I 
comfort  you"*  (Isa.  66:13).  "I  will  betroth  thee  unto  me" 
(Hos.  2:20).  "Return,  .  .  .  saith  Jehovah,  for  I  am  a 
husband  unto  you"  (Jer.  3:  14).  "The  Lord  spake  unto 
Moses  .  .  .  as  a  man  speaketh  unto  his  friend"  (Ex. 
33:11).  Father,  Mother,  Bridegroom,  Husband,  Friend — 
these  are  symbols  of  God.  Men,  endeavoring  to  frame  some 
worthy  thought  of  the  Eternal,  lift  up  their  best  in  phrases 
such  as  these,  and  in  them  enshrine  their  noblest  concepts  of 
the  divine.  They  have  no  better,  truer  thing  to  say  of  God, 
no  wiser  way  in  which  to  say  it.  But  when  they  think  of  the 
Eternal  as  he  must  be,  and  of  their  human  words,  infinitesimal 
in  comparison,  they  know  that  all  their  best  names  for  God 
are  like  small  measures  of  water  dipped  from  an  immeasur- 
able sea.  For  all  that,  so  much  of  God  as  they  can  grasp  and 
understand  is  the  most  important  truth  that  mankind  knows. 
Let  even  a  tea-cup  of  water  be  taken  to  a  laboratory  and  it 
will  tell  the  truth  about  the  sea;  that  one  tea-cup  will  reveal 
the  quality  of  the  it'hole  ocean.  Yet  it  will  not  reveal  all  the 
truth  about  the  ocean.  When  one  considers  the  reach  of  the 
sea  over  the  rim  of  the  world ;  thinks  of  the  depths  that  no  eye 
can  pierce,  the  distances  that  no  mind  can  imagine ;  remembers 
the  currents  that  sweep  through  the  sea,  the  tides  that  rise 
there,  and  the  storms  that  beat  it  to  its  nether  wells,  he  dare 
not  try  to  put  these  into  a  tea-cup.  So  God  sweeps  out  be- 
yond the  reach  of  human  symbols.  At  once  so  true  and  so 
inadequate  are  all  our  words  for  him. 

So  we  might  speak  to  one  who  incredulously  looks  upon 
our  faith,  but  for  one  who  whole-heartedly  approaches  God 
as  Christianity  suggests,  no  negative  and  cautionary  word  is 
adequate.  The  Christian  method  of  conceiving  God  brings 
the  most  exhilarating  thought  of  him  that  man  has  ever  had. 
It  says  in  brief :  Take  your  best  and  think  of  God  as  most 
truly  symbolized  in  that.  As  to  what  our  best  is,  not  even  the 
agnostics  doubt.  The  physical  universe  belittles  us  on  one 

74 


FAITH  IN  THE  PERSONAL  GOD         [III-c] 

side  only;  it  makes  a  pigmy  of  the  body.  In  our  spirits  we 
still  tower  above  the  physical ;  we  are  greater  than  the  world 
we  know.  Our  supreme  good,  the  divinest  reality  with  which 
we  deal,  is  personality.  Then  lift  that  up,  says  Christianity; 
it  is  your  best,  and  you  dare  not  think  of  God  in  terms  of  less ; 
you  have  Christ's  example  in  arguing  from  the  human  best 
to  the  divine:  "If  ye,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts 
unto  your  children,  hozv  much  more  .  .  .  your  Father." 
(Matt.  7:  ii.) 

The  Christian  faith  asserts  that  when  a  man  thus  thinks 
of  God  in  terms  of  the  best  he  knows  he  is  on  the  road  toward 
truth.  How  many  billion  spiritual  miles  he  may  have  to  travel 
to  the  end,  no  man  can  tell.  Only  he  will  never  need  to  stop, 
retrace  his  steps,  and  start  upon  a  lower  path  than  person- 
ality, a  road  that  lies  beneath  righteousness  and  love.  The 
road  leads  on  and  up  beyond  our  imagination,  but  it  is  the 
same  road  and  not  another.  God  is  personality  plus,  or  else 
he  alone  is  completely  personal  and  li'e  are  but  in  embryo. 

If  God  so  is  personal,  then  all  the  deep  meanings  of  reli- 
gious life  and  faith  that  the  saints,  our  spiritual  sires,  have 
known  are  open  to  us  modern  men  and  women.  Forms  of 
thought  indeed  have  changed,  but  if  God  is  thus  our  Father 
and  our  Friend,  the  essentials  of  Christian  experience  are 
waiting  for  us  all.  Life  then  is  not  purposeless ;  all  creation 
is  bound  into  spiritual  unity  by  personal  Will ;  and  in  sacri- 
ficial labor  we  are  serving  one  who  is  able  to  guard  that  which 
we  "have  committed  unto  him  against  that  day"  (II  Tim. 
i :  12).  Old  hymns  of  confidence  in  time  of  trial,  we  too  can 
sing: 

P  "Still  will  we  trust,  though  earth  seem  dark  and  dreary, 
And  the  heart  faint  beneath  His  chastening  rod; 
Though  steep  and  hard  our  pathway,  worn  and  weary, 
Still  will  we  trust  in  God." 

And  we  can  pray,  not  indeed  with  clamorous  beggary  as 
though  the  grace  of  God  were  a  wayside  stall  where  every 
greedy  hand  can  pluck  what  passing  whim  may  wish,  but  we 
can  commune  with  God  as  the  real  saints  have  always  prayed 
with  humility  and  gratitude  and  confident  desire  for  good. 
Most  of  all,  that  priceless  privilege  is  open  to  us  which  is  the 
center  and  sun  of  Christian  thought  and  life.  For  if  among 

75 


[III-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

all  realities  in  our  experience,  we  have  dared  take  the  best, 
personality,  as  a  symbol  in  terms  of  which  to  think  of  God, 
how  should  we  not,  among  all  personalities,  take  the  best  we 
know  as  the  highroad  of  approach  to  him.  Therefore  our 
real  symbol  of  God  shall  be  no  man  among  us,  frail  and  sin- 
ful, but  our  Lord  himself  "fairest  among  ten  thousand" — 
"the  one  altogether  beautiful."  We  shall  think  of  God  in 
terms  of  him.  We  shall  see  "the  light  of  the  knowledge  of 
the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ"  (II  Cor.  4:6.) 


76 


CHAPTER  IV 

Belief  and  Trust 

DAILY  READINGS 

* 

\Ve  have  tried  to  explain  our  faith  in  the  personal  God, 
and  to  see  the  transfiguring  influence  of  that  faith  on  life. 
But  is  belief  in  God  always  such  a  blessing  as  we  have  pic- 
tured ?  Rather  faith,  like  every  other  experience  of  man, 
has  its  caricatures  and  burlesques.  Many  men  are  prevented 
from  appreciation  of  faith  in  God,  with  its  inestimable  bless- 
ings, because  they  have  so  continually  seen  faith's  per- 
versions. The  fact  is  that  belief  in  God  may  be  an  utterly 
negligible  matter  in  a  man's  experience  or  may  even  become 
a  positively  pernicious  influence.  Let  us,  in  the  daily  read- 
ings, consider  some  of  the  familiar  travesties  on  -faith. 

Fourth  Week,  First  Day 

Praise  ye  Jehovah. 

Praise  Jehovah,  O  my  soul. 

While  I  live  will  I  praise  Jehovah: 

I  will  sing  praises  unto  my  God  while  I  have  any  being. 

Put  not  your  trust  in  princes, 

Nor  in  the  son  of  man,  in  whom  there  is  no  help. 

His  breath  goeth  forth,  he  returneth  to  his  earth; 

In  that  very  day  his  thoughts  perish. 

Happy  is  he  that  hath  the  God  of  Jacob  for  his  help, 

Whose  hope  is  in  Jehovah  his  God. 

— Psalm  146:  1-5. 

Xo  one  can  mistake  the  note  of  reality  in  this  psalmist's 
experience  of  God,  But  every  one  of  us  knows  people  who, 
if  asked  whether  they  believed  in  God,  would  readily  assent, 
yet  to  whom  faith  makes  no  such  difference  in  life  as  this 
psalm  expresses.  Their  faith  is  nothing  but  an  opinion  about 
God.  lightly  held,  a  formal  consent  that  what  church  or  family 
tradition  says  must  be  correct.  They  have  what  Luther  used 

77 


[IV-i]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

to  call  "the  charcoal  burner's  faith."  A  man  of  that  occupa- 
tion, when  asked  what  he  believed,  said,  "What  Holy  Church 
believes" ;  but,  questioned  further,  he  could  not  tell  what  it 
was  that  Holy  Church  did  believe.  So  formal,  vitally  unpos- 
sessed, and  practically  unreal  is  much  of  our  religious  opinion 
that  passes  for  faith.  Dean  Swift  was  a  churchman  of  high 
rank,  and  yet  his  biographer  is  compelled  to  say  of  him :  "He 
clung  to  the  doctrines  of  his  church,  not  because  he  could 
give  abstract  reasons  for  his  belief,  but  simply  because  the 
church  happened  to  be  his."  Vital  religious  faith  is  a  very 
different  thing  from  such  dry  conventionality.  A  man  may 
assent  to  the  contents  of  a  college  catalogue  and  yet  never 
have  experience  of  college  life;  he  may  agree  that  a  menu 
is  dietetically  correct  and  yet  never  grow  strong  from  the 
food ;  and  he  may  believe  in  every  creed  in  Christendom  and 
tiot  know  what  faith  in  God  really  means.  Opinions  about 
'God  are  a  roadway  to  God,  but  the  end  of  the  journey  is 
a  personal  fellowship  that  transfigures  life ;  and  to  seize 
opinions  as  though  they  were  the  object  of  faith  is,  to  use 
Tagore's  figure,  "like  a  man  who  tries  to  reach  his  destina- 
tion by  firmly  clutching  the  dust  of  the  road." 

O  Thou  great  Father  of  us  all,  we  rejoice  that  at  last  we 
know  Thee.  All  our  soul  within  us  is  glad  because  we 
need  no  longer  cringe  before  Thee  as  slaves  of  holy  fear, 
seeking  to  appease  Thine  anger  by  sacrifice  and  self-inflicted 
pain,  but  may  come  like  little  children,  trustful  and  happy, 
to  the  God  of  love.  Thou  art  the  only  true  Father,  and  all 
the  tender  beauty  of  our  human  loves  is  the  reflected  radiance 
of  Thy  loving  kindness,  like  the  moonlight  from  the  sunlight, 
and  testifies  to  the  eternal  passion  that  kindled  it. 

Grant  us  growth  of  spiritual  vision,  that  with  the  passing 
years  we  may  enter  into  the  fulness  of  this  our  faith.  Since 
Thou  art  our  Father,  may  we  not  hide  our  sins  from  Thee, 
but  overcome  them  by  the  stern  comfort  of  Thy  presence. 
By  this  knowledge  uphold  us  in  our  sorrows  and  make  us 
patient  even  amid  the  unsolved  mysteries  of  the  years. 
Reveal  to  us  the  larger  goodness  and  love  that  speak  through 
the  unbending  laws  of  Thy  world.  Through  this  faith  make 
us  the  willing  equals  of  all  Thy  other  children. 

As  Thou  art  ever  pouring  out  Thy  life  in  sacrificial  father- 
love,  may  we  accept  the  eternal  law  of  the  cross  and  give 

78 


BELIEF  AND  TRUST  [IV-z] 

ourselves  to  Thee  and  to  all  men.  We  praise  Thee  for  Jesus 
Christ,  n.'hose  life  has  revealed  to  us  this  faith  and  law,  and 
rejoice  that  he  has  become  the  first-born  among  many 
brethren.  Grant  that  in  us,  too,  the  faith  in  Thy  fatherhood 
may  shine  thr.omjh  all  our  life  with  such  persuasive  beauty 
that  some  who  still  creep  in  the  dusk  of  fear  may  stand  erect 
as  free  sons  of  God,  and  that  others  who  now  through  un- 
belief are  living  as  orphans  in  an  empty  world  may  stretch 
out  their  hands  to  the  great  Father  of  their  spirits  and  find 
Thee  near.  Amen. — \Yalter  Rauschenbusch. 

Fourth  Week,  Second  Day 

Faith  is  travestied  in  many  lives  not  so  much  by  the  sub- 
stitution of  opinion  for  experience,  as  by  making  religion 
consist  in  certain  devout  practices,  such  as  church-going. 
Ceremonialism,  instead  of  being  an  aid  in  making  God  real, 
takes  the  place  of  fellowship  with  God.  How  scathing  were 
the  attacks  of  the  prophets  on  this  distortion  of  religion! 

Hear  the  word  of  Jehovah,  ye  rulers  of  Sodom;  give 
ear  unto  the  law  of  our  God,  ye  people  of  Gomorrah. 
What  unto  me  is  the  multitude  of  your  sacrifices?  saith 
Jehovah:  I  have  had  enough  of  the  burnt-offerings  of 
rams,  and  the  fat  of  fed  beasts;  and  I  delight  not  in  the 
blood  of  bullocks,  or  of  lambs,  or  of  he-goats.  When  ye 
come  to  appear  before  me,  who  hath  required  this  at  your 
hand,  to  trample  my  courts?  Bring  no  more  vain  obla- 
tions; incense  is  an  abomination  unto  me;  new  moon  and 
sabbath,  the  calling  of  assemblies — I  cannot  away  with 
iniquity  and  the  solemn  meeting.  Your  new  moons  and 
your  appointed  feasts  my  soul  hateth;  they  are  a  trouble 
unto  me;  I  am  weary  of  bearing  them.  And  when  ye 
spread  forth  your  hands,  I  will  hide  mine  eyes  from  you; 
yea,  when  ye  make  many  prayers,  I  will  not  hear:  your 
hands  are  full  of  blood.  Wash  you,  make  you  clean; 
put  away  the  evil  of  your  doings  from  before  mine  eyes; 
cease  to  do  evil;  learn  to  do  •well;  seek  justice,  relieve  the 
oppressed,  judge  the  fatherless,  plead  for  the  widow. — 
Isa.  i:  10-17. 

Many  young  people,  watching  conventional  observances  in 
religious  worship  and  perceiving  no  real  life  active  there, 
come'  to  the  conclusion  that  religious  faith  is  a  decent  and 
negligible  formality.  So  William  Scott  Palmer,  tracing  his 

79 


[IV-2]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

progress  from  agnosticism  to  Christianity,  describes  the  reli- 
gion of  his  boyhood :  "Religion  as  a  personal  matter,  religion 
as  a  life,  did  not  exist  for  me  or  for  my  family.  The  border- 
land of  my  native  village  went  to  church  at  eleven  o'clock 
on  fine  Sundays,  and  I  went  in  and  with  it-  There  were 
unlucky  Sundays  when  the  Litany  was  said,  and  the  service 
prolonged  by  its  unmeaning  length ;  the  lucky  Sundays  were 
wet  ones  that  cleared  up  later.  ...  I  did  not  know  that 
there  was  any  vital  meaning  in  religion."  And  even  Sir 
Wilfred  Grenfell,  whose  work  in  Labrador  is  one  of  this 
generation's  outstanding  triumphs  of  Christian  faith,  says 
of  his  young  manhood :  "The  ordinary  exponents  of  the 
Christian  faith  had  never  succeeded  in  interesting  me  in  any 
way,  or  even  in  making  me  believe  that  they  were  more  than 
professionally  concerned  themselves.  Religion  appeared  to 
be  a  profession,  exceedingly  conventional,  and  most  unat- 
tractive in  my  estimation — the  very  last  I  should  have  thought 
of  selecting."  No  travesty  on  faith  is  more  deadly  in  its 
effects  than  this  substitution  of  conventional  observance  for 
life. 

O  Jesus,  we  thy  ministers  bow  before  Thee  to  confess  the 
common  sins  of  our  calling.  Thou  knowest  all  things;  Thou 
knowest  that  we  love  Thee  and  that  our  hearts'  desire  is  to 
serve  Thee  in  faithfulness;  and  yet,  like  Peter,  we  have  so 
often  failed  Thee  in  the  hour  of  Thy  need.  If  ever  we  have 
loved  our  own  leadership  and  power  when  we  sought  to  lead 
our  people  to  Thee,  we  pray  Thee  to  forgive.  If  we  have 
been  engrossed  in  narrow  duties  and  little  questions,  when 
the  vast  needs  of  humanity  called  cloud  for  prophetic  vision 
and  apostolic  sympathy,  we  pray  Thee  to  forgive.  If  in  our 
loyalty  to  the  Church  of  the  past  we  have  distrusted  Thy 
living  voice  and  have  suffered  Thee  to  pass  from  our  door 
unheard,  we  pray  Thee  to  forgive.  If  ever  we  have  been 
more  concerned  for  the  strong  and  the  rich  than  for  the 
shepherdless  throngs  of  the  people  for  whom  Thy  soul 
grieved,  we  pray  Thee  to  forgive. 

O  Master,  amidst  our  failures  we  cast  ourselves  upon  Thee 
in  humility  and  contrition.  We  need  new  light  and  a  new 
message.  We  need  the  ancient  spirit  of  prophecy  and  the 
leaping  fire  and  joy  of  a  new  conviction,  and  Thou  alone 
canst  give  it.  Inspire  the  ministry  of  Thy  Church  with 

80 


BELIEF  AND  TRUST  [IV-3] 

dauntless  courage  to  face  the  vast  needs  of  the  future.  Free 
us  from  all  entanglements  that  have  hushed  our  voice  and 
bound  our  action.  Grant  us  grace  to  look  upon  the  veiled 
sins  of  the  rich  and  the  coarse  vices  of  the  poor  through 
Thine  eyes.  Give  us  Thine  inflexible  sternness  against  sin,  and 
Thine  inexhaustible  compassion  for  the  frailly  and  tragedy 
of  those  "who  do  the  sin.  Make  us  faithful  shepherds  of  Thy 
flock,  true  seers  of  God,  and  true  followers  of  Jesus.  Amen. 
— Walter  Rauschenbusch. 

Fourth  Week,  Third  Day 

And  he  spake  also  this  parable  unto  certain  who  trusted 
in  themselves  that  they  were  righteous,  and  set  all  others 
at  nought:  Two  men  went  up  into  the  temple  to  pray; 
the  one  a  Pharisee,  and  the  other  a  publican.  The  Pharisee 
stood  and  prayed  thus  with  himself,  God,  I  thank  thee, 
that  I  am  not  as  the  rest  of  men,  extortioners,  unjust, 
adulterers,  or  even  as  this  publican.  I  fast  twice  in  the 
week;  I  give  tithes  of  all  that  I  get.  But  the  publican, 
standing  afar  off,  would  not  lift  up  so  much  as  his  eyes 
unto  heaven,  but  smote  his  breast,  saying,  God,  be  thou 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner.  I  say  unto  you,  This  man  went 
down  to  his  house  justified  rather  than  the  other:  for 
every  one  that  exalteth  himself  shall  be  humbled;  but 
he  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted. — Luke  18:  9-14. 

The  men  against  whom  the  Master  directed  this  parable 
were  bigots.  Self-opinionated,  self-conceited,  dogmatic,  and 
contemptuous — they  wore  all  the  attributes  of  bigotry.  And 
bigotry  is  a  very  familiar  perversion  of  faith.  Vital  fellow- 
ship with  God  ought  to  make  men  gracious,  magnanimous, 
generous ;  it  ought  to  make  life  with  God  seem  so  incom- 
parably important  that  when  anyone  has  that,  his  opinions 
about  God  will  be  tolerantly  regarded,  however  mistaken  they 
may  appear  to  be.  Dr.  Pritchett,  when  President  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Institute  of  Technology,  passed  through  a  classroom 
where  a  young  instructor  was  conducting  a  chemical  experi- 
ment. "The  reaction  itself,"  says  Dr.  Pritchett,  "was  going 
on  in  a  retort  on  the  table,  while  on  a  blackboard  was  written 
the  conventional  formula,  which  in  the  science  of  chemistry 
is  used  to  describe  the  reaction.  It  so  happened  that  the 
instructor  had  made  a  mistake  in  writing  the  formula ;  in- 
stead of  CO2  he  had  written  COs.  But  this  made  not  the 

81 


[IV-3]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

slightest  difference  in  the  reaction  which  was  going  on  in 
the  flask."  So,  a  man  may  live  his  life  with  an  admirably 
Christian  spirit,  although  he  describes  it  with  a  mistaken 
formula.  His  error  is  theoretical,  not  vital.  But  a  bigot  is 
so  sure  that  he  alone  knows  the  true  formula,  that  a  man 
without  that  formula  is  altogether  wrong,  and  that  he  must 
either  set  him  right  or  condemn  him  utterly,  that  he  grows 
bitter,  har-d,  unlovely.  His  opinions  may  be  right,  but  his 
spirit  is  wrong.  The  faith  that  should  make  his  life  radiant 
is  perverted  to  make  it  narrow,  harsh,  contemptuous.  He 
renders  hateful  the  very  faith  he  seeks  to  commend  and 
ruins  the  reputation  of  the  God  whom  he  is  zealous  to  exalt. 
So  the  Pharisee  of  the  parable  missed  all  the  beauty  of  the 
Publican's  life  because  he  thought  the  Publican's  formula 
was  wrong.  No  one  can  estimate  the  irreparable  damage 
which  zealous  bigots  have  done  to  true  faith. 

O  Thou  who  art  of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold  iniquity, 
canst  Thou  bear  to  look  on  us  conscious  of  our  great  trans- 
gression? Yet  hide  not  Thy  face  from  us,  for  in  Thy  light 
alone  shall  we  see  light. 

Forgive  us  for  the  sins  which  crowd  into  the  mind  as  we 
realise  Thy  presence ;  our  ungovernable  tempers,  our  shuffling 
insincerities,  the  craven  fear  of  our  hearts,  the  pettiness  of 
our  spirits,  the  foul  lusts  and  fatal  leanings  of  our  souls. 
Not  for  pardon  only,  but  for  cleansing,  Lord,  we  pray. 

Forgive  us,  we  beseech  Thee,  our  unconscious  sins;  things 
which  must  be  awful  to  Thy  sight,  of  which  we  yet  know 
nothing.  Forgive  by  giving  us  in  fuller  measure  the  awaken- 
ing of  Thy  presence,  that  we  may  know  ourselves,  and  lose 
all  love  of  sin  in  the  knowledge  of  what  Thou  art. 

Forgive  us  for  the  things  for  which  we  can  never  forgive 
ourselves;  those  sad  turned  pages  of  our  life  which  some 
chance  wind  of  memory  blows  back  again  with  shame;  for 
the  moment  of  cruel  passion,  the  hour  beyond  recall,  the  word 
that  zvent  forth  to  poison  and  defame,  the  carelessness  that 
lost  our  opportunity,  the  unheeded  fading  of  bright  ideals. 

Forgive  us  for  the  things  that  others  can  never  forgive; 
the  idle  tale,  the  cruel  wrong,  the  uncharitable  condemnation, 
the  unfair  judgment,  the  careless  criticism,  the  irresponsible 
conduct. 

Forgive  us  for  the  sins  of  our  holy  things;  that  we  have 
82 


BELIEF  AND  TRUST  [IV-4J 

turned  the  sacred  page  without  a  sigh,  read  the  confessions 
of  holy  men  and  women  and  never  joined  therein,  lived  in 
Thy  light  and  never  prayed  to  be  forgiven  or  rendered  Thee 
thanksgiving;  professed  to  believe  in  Thee  and  love  Thee, 
yet  dared  to  injure  and  hate. 

Naught  save  being  born  again,  nothing  but  a  miracle  of 
grace,  can  ever  be  to  us  forgiveness.  Cleanse  our  hearts, 
renew  our  minds,  and  take  not  Thy  Holy  Spirit  from  us. 
Amen.—W.  E.  Orchard. 

Fourth  Week,  Fourth  Day 

Of  all  perversions  of  faith  none  is  more  fatal  than  the 
substitution  of  opinions  about  God  for  integrity  of  character 
and  usefulness  of  life.  With  what  scathing  vehemence  does 
James,  as  Dr.  Moffatt  renders  him,  attack  this  travesty  on 
faith. 

"My  brothers,  what  is  the  use  of  anyone  declaring  he  has 
faith,  if  he  has  no  deeds  to  show?  Can  his  faith  save 
him?  Suppose  some  brother  or  sister  is  ill-clad  and  short 
of  daily  food ;  if  any  of  you  says  to  them,  'Depart  in  peace ! 
Get  warm,  get  food,'  without  supplying  their  bodily  needs, 
what  use  is  that?  So  faith,  unless  it  has  deeds,  is  dead 
in  itself.  Someone  will  object,  'And  you  claim  to  have 
faith !'  Yes,  and  I  claim  to  have  deeds  as  well ;  you  show 
me  your  faith  without  any  deeds,  and  I  will  show  you  by 
my  deeds  what  faith  is !  You  believe  in  one  God  ?  Well 
and  good.  So  do  the  devils,  and  they  shudder.  But  will 
you  understand,  you  senseless  fellow,  that  faith  without  deeds 
is  dead?  W7hen  our  father  Abraham  offered  his  son  Isaac 
on  the  altar,  was  he  not  justified  by  what  he  did?" — James  2: 
14-21. 

An  American  business  man  not  long  dead,  who  hated  any 
word  from  the  pulpit  about  social  righteousness,  used  to 
complain :  "Preachers  are  talking  so  everlastingly  about  this 
earth.  I've  done  my  best  to  get  them  to  stick  to  the  Gospel, 
and  not  allow  '\vorldliness'  to  get  into  the  teachings  of  the 
Church ;  but  the  good  old  preachers  have  gone  to  glory." 
Yet  'this  pious  zealot  helped  wreck  the  finances  of  a  great 
railroad  system,  and  with  part  of  the  proceeds  built  a  theo- 


[IV-SJ  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

logical  seminary.  There  was  no  vital,  intelligent  connection 
between  his  faith  in  God  and  his  ideals  of  character  and  serv- 
ice. One  verse  should  be  made  to  flame  in  Christian  pulpits : 
"If  any  provideth  not  for  his  own,  and  specially  his  own 
household,  he  hath  denied  the  faith  and  is  worse  than  an  un- 
believer" (I  Tim.  5:  8).  Domestic  fidelity  is  here  only  typical 
of  all  basic  moral  obligations.  What  this  verse  says  in 
principle  is  clear :  theoretical  unbelief  is  not  the  worst  sin 
in  God's  sight ;  any  man  who  fails  in  the  fundamental  duties 
of  rectitude  and  service  has  thereby  denied  the  faith  and  is 
worse  than  an  atheist. 

O  thou  holy  One  and  just!  if  alone  the  pure  in  heart  can 
see  thee,  truly  we  must  stand  afar  off,  and  not  so  much  as 
lift  up  our  eyes  unto  heaven.  Were  it  not  that  thou  hast 
help  and  pity  for  the  contrite  spirit,  we  could  only  cry,  "De- 
part from  us,  we  are  sinful  men,  O  Lord!"  For  idle  words, 
for  proud  thoughts  and  unloving  deeds;  for  wasted  moments 
and  reluctant  duties,  and  too  eager  rest;  for  the  wandering 
desire,  the  vain  fancy,  the  scornful  doubt,  the  untrustful 
care;  for  impatient  murmurs,  and  unruly  passions,  and  the 
hardness  of  a  worldly  heart;  thou,  Lord,  canst  call  us  unto 
judgment,  and  we  have  naught  to  answer  thce.  But,  O.  thou 
Judge  of  men,  thou  art  witness  that  we  do  not  love  our  guilty 
ways;  make  our  conscience  true  and  tender  that  we  may 
duly  hate  them,  and  refuse  them  any  peace  as  enemies  to 
thee.  Stir  up  within  us  a  great  and  effectual  repentance  that 
we  may  redeem  the  time  which  we  have  lost,  and  in  the 
hours  that  remain  may  do  the  work  of  many  days.  Thou 
knowest  all  our  secret  snares;  drive  from  us  every  root  of 
bitterness:  with  thy  severity  pluck  out,  O  Lord,  the  thorns 
of  sin  from  our  entangled  souls,  and  bind  them  as  a  crown 
of  contrition  around  our  bleeding  brows;  and  having  made 
our  peace  with  thee  may  we  henceforth  watch  and  pray  that 
we  enter  not  again  into  temptation,  but  bear  our  cross  with 
patience  to  the  close.  Amen. — James  Martineau. 

Fourth  Week,  Fifth  Day 

Some  of  the  most  lamentable  perversions  of  religious  faith 
arise  from  inadequate  ideas  of  God.  Consider,  for  example, 
the  way  Manasseh  thought  that  the  Divine  ought  to  be  wor- 
shiped. 

•       84 


BELIEF  AND  TRUST  [IV-5] 

For  he  built  again  the  high  places  which  Hezekiah  his 
father  had  destroyed;  and  he  reared  up  altars  for  Baal, 
and  made  an  Asherah,  as  did  Ahab  king  of  Israel,  and 
worshipped  all  the  host  of  heaven,  and  served  them.  And 
he  built  altars  in  the  house  of  Jehovah,  whereof  Jehovah 
said.  In  Jerusalem  will  I  put  my  name.  And  he  built 
altars  for  all  the  host  of  heaven  in  the  two  courts  of  the 
house  of  Jehovah.  And  he  made  his  son  to  pass  through 
the  fire,  and  practised  augury,  and  used  enchantments, 
and  dealt  with  them  that  had  familiar  spirits,  and  with 
wizards:  he  wrought  much  evil  in  the  sight  of  Jehovah, 
to  provoke  him  to  anger. — II  Kings  21:  3-6. 

Then  compare  the  thought  of  the  Master  on  the  same 
subject. 

But  the  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  true  wor- 
shippers shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  truth:  for 
such  doth  the  Father  seek  to  be  his  worshippers.  God 
is  a  Spirit:  and  they  that  worship  him  must  worship  in 
spirit  and  truth. — John  4:  23,  24. 

There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Manasseh  was  insincere ; 
he  is  one  of  an  innumerable  company  in  whom  the  religious 
motive  has  been  harnessed  to  warped  and  ignorant  ideas  of 
God.  Religious  faith,  like  any  other  tremendous  power,  is 
terrific  in  evil  consequences  when  it  goes  wrong.  Men,  under 
its  subtle  and  prevailing  influence,  have  waged  bloody  wars, 
worshiped  with  licentious  rituals,  carried  on  pitiless  persecu- 
tions, and  in  bigotry,  cruelty,  and  deceit  have  grown  worse 
than  they  would  have  been  with  no  religion  whatsoever.  And 
men,  in  its  inspiring  light,  have  launched  missionary  move- 
ments, founded  great  philanthropies,  built  schools,  hospitals, 
orphanages,  and  in  sacrifice,  courageous  service,  and  hope 
of  human  brotherhood  have  made  man's  history  glorious. 
Religion  needs  intelligence  to  save  it  from  becoming  a  ruin- 
ous curse;  like  all  power  of  the  first  magnitude  it  is  a  disaster 
if  ignorantly  used.  Since  religious  faith  will  always  be  a 
major  human  motive,  under  what  obligations  are  we  to  save 
it  from  perversion  and  to  keep  it  clean  and  right! 

Almighty  God,  our  heavenly  Father,  we  are  most  unworthy 
to  be  called  Thy  children;  for  when  light  and  darkness  have 
been  set  before  us,  we  have  often  chosen  darkness  rather 
than  light.  Conscious  that  within  us  are  the  elements  of  a 

85 


[IV-6]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

nobler  and  a  meaner  life,  we  have  yet  given  -way  to  the 
meaner  appetites,  and  have  not  obeyed  the  inspiration  Thou 
hast  kindled  within  us.  We  entreat  Thee  now  of  Thy  grace 
to  call  us  back  from  the  ways  of  temptation  and  sin  into 
that  higher  life  which  Thou  dost  breathe  upon  us,  and  which 
is  manifested  in  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Give  us  the  self- 
knowledge,  the  humility,  the  repentance,  the  aspiration  which 
draw  us  to  the  Cross  of  Christ,  that  worshiping  there  in 
lowliness,  we  may  see  the  weakness  of  falsehood  and  the 
strength  of  truth,  the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  selfishness,  and 
the  beauty  of  love  and  sacrifice. 

O  Thou  whose  secret  is  with  them  that  fear  Thee,  inspire 
us  with  that  loyalty  of  soul,  that  willingness  to  do  Thy  will 
to  which  all  things  are  clear.  Darkness,  we  know,  cometh 
upon  the  proud  and  disobedient;  confusion  is  ever  attendant 
upon  self-will;  while  to  the  humble,  the  earnest,  and  the  pufe- 
minded,  the  way  of  duty  and  spiritual  health  is  made  clear. 
O  Spirit  of  the  Eternal,  subdue  within  us  all  pride,  all  vain- 
glory, all  self-seeking,  and  bring  every  .thought*  and  every 
desire  into  obedience  to  the  law  of  Christ  our  Lord. 

Almighty  Father,  to  Thee  would  we  consecrate  these  earthly 
days  from  infancy  to  age.  Thee  would  we  remember  in 
childhood  and  youth.  Thee  would  we  serve  in  all  the  rela- 
tions and  activities  of  middle  age.  Thee  would  we  teach  our 
children  to  love  and  serve.  Be  Thou  our  stay  and  hope  when 
health  and  strength  shall  fail.  And  when  we  are  summoned 
hence,  do  Thou,  O  Life  of  our  life,  illumine  the  mystery  of 
the  invisible  world  with  Thy  presence  and  love.  We  ask 
these  blessings  in  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Amen. 
— John  Hunter. 

Fourth  Week,  Sixth  Day 

The  perversions  of  religious  faith,  working  pitiable  in- 
stead of  benevolent  consequences,  are  often  seen  on  mission 
fields.  Consider  Paul's  address  in  Athens : 

And  Paul  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  Areopagus,  and 
said, 

Ye  men  of  Athens,  in  all  things  I  perceive  that  ye  are 
very  religious.  For  as  I  passed  along,  and  observed  the 
objects  of  your  worship,  I  found  also  an  altar  with  this 
inscription,  TO  AN  UNKNOWN  GOD.  What  there- 

86 


BELIEF  AND  TRUST  [IV-6} 

fore  ye  worship  in  ignorance,  this  I  set  forth  unto  you. 
The  God  that  made  the  world  and  all  things  therein,  he, 
being  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  dwelleth  not  in  temples 
made  with  hands;  neither  is  he  served  by  men's  hands, 
as  though  he  needed  anything,  seeing  he  himself  giveth 
to  all  life,  and  breath,  and  all  things;  and  he  made  of  one 
every  nation  of  men  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth, 
having  determined  their  appointed  seasons,  and  the 
bounds  of  their  habitation;  that  they  should  seek  God, 
if  haply  they  might  feel  after  him  and  find  him,  though 
he  is  not  far  from  each  one  of  us:  for  in  him  we  live,  and 
move,  and  have  our  being;  as  certain  even  of  your  own 
poets  have  said, 

For  we  are  ^Iso  his  offspring. 

— Acts   17:  22-28. 

Paul  did  not  need  to  plead  for  religion  with  the  Athenians ; 
they  were  already  "very  religious."  Only  religion  was  not 
doing  for  them  what  it  ought ;  it  was  a  power  used  "in 
ignorance";  and  Paul,  valuing  all  that  was  good  there,  quot- 
ing their  own  poets  with  appreciation,  nevertheless  longed 
to  take  their  strong  religious  motives  and  so  clarify  and  direct 
them  that  faith  might  mean  unqualified  benediction.  Is  not 
this  always  the  right  missionary  method?  The  people  of  India 
are  intensely  religious ;  no  tribe  in  Africa  lacks  its  gods ; 
and  everywhere  the  faith-motive  is  immensely  powerful.  But 
often  it  makes  mothers  drown  their  babies  in  sacred  rivers, 
it  consecrates  caste  systems  as  holy  things,  it  centers  man's 
adoration  around  unworthy  objects,  its  powers,  gone  wrong, 
are  a  curse  and  not  a  blessing.  If  in  Jesus  Christ  religious 
faith  has  come  to  us,  through  no  merit  of  our  own,  as  an 
unspeakable  benediction,  ought  we  not,  humbly,  without  dog- 
matism or  intolerance,  and  yet  with  passionate  earnestness, 
to  share  our  best  with  all  the  world?  Religious  faith  may 
either  depress  or  lift  a  people's  life;  it  is  forever  doing  one 
or  the  other  in  every  nation  under  heaven ;  and  there  is  no 
hope  for  the  -world  until  this  master-motive  is  lifting  every- 
where. 

Almighty  God,  our  Father  in  heaven,  -who  hast  so  greatly 
loved  the  world  that  Thou  hast  given  Thine  only-begotten 
Son,  the  Redeemer,  communicate  Thy  love  to  the  hearts  of 
all  believers,  and  revive  Thy  Church  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature. 

87 


[IV-7]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

O  Thou  who  rulest  by  Thy  providence  over  land  and  sea, 
defend  and  guide  and  bless  the  messengers  of  Christ;  in 
danger  be  their  shield,  in  darkness  be  their  hope;  enrich  their 
•word  and  work  with  wisdom,  joy,  and  power,  and  let  them 
gather  souls  for  Thee  in  far  fields  white  unto  the  harvest. 

O  Thou  who  by  Thy  Holy  Spirit  workest  wonders  in  secret, 
open  the  eyes  that  dimly  look  for  light  to  see  the  day-star 
in  Christ;  open  the  minds  that  seek  the  unknown  God  to 
know  their  Heavenly  Father  in  Christ;  open  the  hearts  that 
hunger  for  righteousness  to  find  eternal  peace  in  Christ.  De- 
liver the  poor  prisoners  of  ignorance  and  captives  of  idolatry, 
break  down  the  bars  of  error,  and  dispel  the  shadows  of  the 
ancient  night;  lift  up  the  gates\  and  let  the  King  of  glory 
and  the  Prince  of  Peace  come  in. 

Thy  kingdom,  O  Christ,  is  an  everlasting  kingdom! 
Strengthen  Thy  servants  to  pray  and  labor  and  wait  for  its 
appearing;  forgive  our  little  faith  and  the  weakness  of  our 
endeavor;  hasten  the  day  when  all  nations  shall  be  at  peace 
in  Thee,  and  every  land  and  every  heart  throughout  the  world 
shall  bless  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  the  glory  of  God 
the  Father.  Amen. — Henry  van  Dyke. 

Fourth  Week,  Seventh  Day 

The  sad  perversions  of  religious  faith  are  not  a  matter 
for  foreign  missions  only.  At  home,  too,  we  find  people  who 
seem  to  be  rather  worse  than  better  because  they  are  religious. 
Just  as  power  in  any  other  form  may  be  abused,  so  may 
religious  faith.  Some  in  the  name  of  religion  become  censori- 
ous and  intolerant,  some  superstitious,  some  slaves  to  morbid 
fears ;  and  ignorance,  self-conceit,  pride,  and  worldly  ambi- 
tion when  driven  and  enforced  by  a  religious  motive  are 
infinitely  worse  than  they  would  have  been  without  it.  To- 
ward this  fact  two  attitudes  are  possible.  One  is  to  throw 
over  religion  on  account  of  its  abuses ;  which  is  as  reason- 
able as  to  deny  all  the  blessings  of  electricity  because  in 
ignorant  hands  it  is  a  dangerous  power.  The  other  is  to  take 
religious  faith  more  seriously  than  ever,  to  see  how  great  a 
force  for  weal  or  woe  it  always  is  in  human  life,  and  to 
strive  in  ourselves  and  in  others  for  a  high,  intelligent,  and 
worthy  understanding  and  use  of  it.  For  religion  can  mean 
what  Amiel  said  of  it :  "There  is  but  one  thing  needful — to 


BELIEF  AND  TRUST  [IV-;] 

possess  God.  Religion  is  not  a  method:  it  is  a  life — a  higher 
and  supernatural  life,  mystical  in  its  root  and  practical  in 
its  fruits  ;  a  communion  with  God,  a  calm  and  deep  enthusiasm, 
a  love  which  radiates,  a  force  which  acts,  a  happiness  which 
overflows."  From  our  study  of  the  perversions  and  travesties 
of  faith,  we  turn  therefore  in  the  weekly  comment  to  con- 
sider faith's  vital  meanings.  So  Paul,  writing  to  the  Galatians, 
rejoices  in  religion  as  a  gloriously  transforming  power  in 
life. 

But  I  say,  Walk  by  the  Spirit,  and  ye  shall  not  fulfil 
the  lust  of  the  flesh.  For  the  flesh  lusteth  against  the 
Spirit,  and  the  Spirit  against  the  flesh;  for  these  are  con- 
trary the  one  to  the  other;  that  ye  may  not  do  the  things 
that  ye  would.  But  if  ye  are  led  by  the  Spirit,  ye  are 
not  under  the  law.  Now  the  works  of  the  flesh  are  mani- 
fest, which  are  these:  fornication,  uncleanness,  lascivious- 
ness,  idolatry,  sorcery,  enmities,  strife,  jealousies,  wraths, 
factions,  divisions,  parties,  envyings,  drunkenness,  revel- 
lings,  and  such  like;  of  which  I  forewarn  you  even  as  I 
did  forewarn  you,  that  they  who  practise  such  things 
shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God.  But  the  fruit  of 
the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  kindness, 
goodness,  faithfulness,  meekness,  self-control;  against 
such  there  is  no  law.  And  they  that  are  of  Christ  Jesus 
have  crucified  the  flesh  with  the  passions  and  the  lusts 
thereof. — Gal.  5:  16-23. 

Thou,  O  God,  hast  exalted  us  so  that  no  longer  we  walk 
with  prone  head  among  the  animals  that  perish.  Thou  hast 
ordained  us  as  Thine  own  children,  and  hast  planted  within 
us  that  spiritual  life  which  ever  seeks,  as  the  flame,  to  rise 
upward  and  mingle  with  Thee.  Every  exaltation,  every  pure 
sentiment,  all  urgency  of  true  affection,  and  all  yearning  after 
things  higher  and  nobler,  are  testimonies  of  the  divinity  that 
is  in  us.  These  are  the  threads  by  which  Thou  art  drawing 
us  away  from  sense,  away  from  the  earth,  away  from  things 
coarse  and  unspiritual,  and  toward  the  ineffable.  We  rejoice 
that  we  have  in  us  the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  the  indwelling 
of  God.  For,  although  we  are  temples  defiled,  though  we 
are  unworthy  of  such  a  Guest,  and  though  we  perpetually 
grieve  Thee,  and  drive  Thee  from  us,  so  that  Thou  canst  not 
do  the  mighty  -work  that  Thou  wouldst  within  us,  yet  we  re- 
joice to  believe  that  Thou  dost  linger  near  us.  Even  upon 

89 


[IV-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

the  outside,  Thou  standest  knocking  at  the  door  until  Thy 
locks  are  wet  with  the  night  dews,  and  dost  persuade  us  with 
the  everlasting  importunity  of  love,  and  dra^v  us  upward, 
whether  with  or  without  our  own  knowledge.  Thou  art 
evermore  striving  to  imbue  us  with  Thyself,  and  to  give  us 
that  divine  nature  which  shall  triumph  over  time  and  sense 
and  matter;  and  we  pray  that  we  may  have  an  enlightened 
understanding  of  this  Thy  work  in  us  and  upon  us,  and  work 
together  with  Thee.  Amen. — Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 

One  might  be  tempted  by  the  last  chapter  to  suppose  that, 
if  he  could  accept  the  proposition  that  God  is  personal,  he 
would  be  well  upon  his  way  toward  Christianity.  But  in 
theory  at  least  Plato  accepted  this  proposition  four  hundred 
years  before  Christ,  when  he  said :  "God  is  never  in  any  way 
unrighteous — He  is  perfect  righteousness ;  and  he  of  us  who 
is  most  righteous  is  most  like  Him."  He,  too,  used  person- 
ality as  a  symbol  of  God.  When,  however,  one  compares 
Plato  with  Jesus,  how  incalculably  greater  is  the  religious 
meaning  of  our  Lord !  There  is  something  more  in  the 
Master's  experience  and  thought  than  the  belief  that  God  is 
personal.  Evidently  our  quest  must  be  followed  further  than 
the  last  chapter  carried  us. 

In  Scripture  two  kinds  of  faith  in  the  personal  God  are 
clearly  indicated.  On  the  one  side  stand  verses  such  as  this : 
"Thou  believest  that  God  is  one ;  thou  doest  well ;  the  demons 
also  believe  and  shudder"  (James  2:  19).  On  the  other,  one 
finds  through  both  the  Testaments  witness  and  appeal  for  a 
kind  of  faith  that  plainly  differs  from  the  first :  "O  my  God, 
in  thee  have  I  trusted"  (Psalm  25:2).  It  is  not  difficult  to 
guess  the  terms  in  which  many  would  describe  this  difference. 
In  the  first,  so  the  familiar  explanation  runs,  we  are  dealing 
with  the  mind's  faith  in  God ;  the  man's  intellect  assents  to 
the  belief  that  God  is  and  that  He  is  one.  In  the  second  we 
are  dealing  with  the  heart's  faith  in  God ;  the  whole  man  is 
here  involved  in  an  adoring  trust  that  finds  in  reliance  upon 
God  life's  stimulus  and  joy. 

This  distinction  between  the  faith  of  the  intellect  and  of  the 
heart  is  valid,  but  it  does  not  go  to  the  pith  of  the  truth.  When 

90 


BELIEF  AND  TRUST  [IV-c] 

a  professor  in  the  class-room,  discussing  conflicting  theories 
of  life's  origin,  concludes  that  theism  is  the  reasonable  inter- 
pretation of  the  universe,  the  listener  understands  that  the 
lecturer  believes  in  God's  existence.  But  if  the  professor 
could  be  followed  home  and  overheard  in  a  private  prayer, 
like  Fenelon's :  "Lord,  I  know  not  what  I  ought  to  ask  of 
Thee ;  Thou  only  knowest  what  I  need ;  Thou  lovest  me  better 
than  I  know  how  to  love  myself.  O  Father !  give  to  Thy  child 
that  which  he  himself  knows  not  how  to  ask,"  something  in- 
calculably more  than  the  classroom  talk  disclosed  would  be 
revealed  about  the  meaning  of  the  teacher's  faith.  And  as 
the  classroom  lecture  and  the  private  prayer  stand  so  con- 
trasted, the  gist  of  the  difference  is  plain.  In  the  one,  faith 
was  directed  toward  a  theory;  in  the  other  faith  laid  hold 
upon  a  Person.  That  the  intellect  was  more  involved  in  the 
first  and  the  emotions  in  the  second  is  incidental  to  the  main 
matter,  that  tivo  differing  objects  ivere  in  view.  Toward 
these  two  objects  we  continually  are  exercising  faith — ideas 
and  people,  propositions  and  persons. 

Now  faith  in  a  proposition  we  conveniently  may  call  be- 
lief ;  and  faith  in  a  person,  trust.  We  believe  that  gravitation 
and  the  conservation  of  energy  universally  apply,  that  de- 
mocracy will  prove  better  than  absolutism,  and  that  prison 
systems  can  be  radically  reformed ;  these  and  innumerable 
other  propositions  that  cannot  be  demonstrated  we  confidently 
believe.  But  in  quite  another  way  we  daily  are  exercising 
faith;  we  have  faith  in  our  friends.  How  profound  a  change 
comes  over  the  quality  and  value  of  faith  when  it  thus  finds 
its  objective  in  a  person !  Our  beliefs  in  propositions  are  of 
basic  import  and  without  them  we  could  not  well  exist,  but 
it  is  by  trust  in  persons  that  we  live  indeed.  Belief  in 
monogamy,  for  all  its  importance,  is  a  cold  abstraction,  and 
few  could  be  found  to  die  for  it.  Men  do  not  lay  down 
their  lives  for  abstract  theories,  any  more  than  they  would 
suffer  martyrdom,  as  Chesterton  remarked,  for  the  Meridian 
of  Greenwich.  But  when  monogamy  is  translated  from  theory 
into  personal  experience,  when  belief  in  the  idea  becomes 
trust  in  a  life-long  comrade  of  whom  one  may  sing: 

"What  I   do 

And  what  I  dream  include  thee,  as  the  wine 
Must  taste  of  its  own  grapes," 

91 


[IV-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

faith  has  taken  a  form  for  which  men  do  live  and  die  in  glad 
surrender.  Although  the  same  word,  faith,  be  applied  to  both, 
trust  in  persons  reaches  deeper  than  belief  in  propositions  and 
supplies  a  warmth  and  power  that  belief  cannot  attain. 

In  religion  these  two  aspects  of  faith  continually  are  found 
and  both  are  indispensable.  Trust  in  a  person,  for  example, 
presupposes  belief  in  his  existence  and  fidelity.  "He  that 
cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  he  is,  and  that  he  is  a  re- 
warder  of  them  that  seek  after  him"  (Heb.  11:6).  Trust 
cannot  exist  without  belief,  but  when  one  seeks  the  inner 
glory  of  the  religious  life  that  has  overflowed  in  prayer  and 
hymn,  supplied  motive  for  service  and  power  for  character, 
he  finds  it  not  in  belief,  but  in  the  vital  relationships  involved 
in  trusting  a  Person.  Men  often  have  discussed  their  par- 
ticular beliefs  with  cool  deliberation,  have  stated  them  in 
formal  creeds,  have  changed  them  with  access  of  new  knowl- 
edge and  experience.  But  trust,  the  inner  reliance  of  the  soul 
on  God  and  glad  self-surrender  to  his  will,  has  persisted 
through  many  changes,  clothing  itself  with  beliefs  like  gar- 
ments and  casting  them  aside  when  old.  Trust  has  made  rit- 
uals and  churches  and  unmade  them  when  they  were  ineffect- 
ual, it  has  been  the  life,  behind  the  theory,  the  experience  be- 
hind the  explanation ;  and  its  proper  voice  has  been  not  creed 
and  controversy,  but  psalm  and  song  and  sacrifice.  Men  have 
felt  in  describing  this  inward  friendship  that  their  best  words 
were  but  the  "vocal  gestures  of  the  dumb,"  able  to  indicate 
but  unable  to  express  their  thoughts.  For  while  belief  is 
theology,  trust  is  religion. 

II 

This  central  position  of  trust  in  the  Christian  life  is  evident 
when  one  considers  that  in  its  presence  or  absence  lies  the 
chief  point  of  difference  between  a  religious  and  an  irreligious 
man.  The  peculiarity  of  religion  is  not  that  it  has  beliefs ; 
everybody  has  them.  As  we  have  seen,  Huxley,  who  called 
himself  an  agnostic,  said  that  he  thoroughly  believed  the  uni- 
verse to  be  rational,  than  which  only  a  few  greater  ventures 
of  faith  can  be  imagined.  A  man  may  not  want  to  have  be- 
liefs. He  may  say  that  knowledge  is  wool,  warm  to  clothe 
oneself  withal,  that  belief  is  cotton,  and  that  he  will  not 
mingle  them.  But  for  all  that  he  still  does  have  beliefs  and 
he  cannot  help  it. 

92 


BELIEF  AND  TRUST  [IV-cJ 

When,  therefore,  a  Christian  and  an  atheist  converse  they 
can  match  belief  with  belief.  "I  believe,"  says  one,  "in  God 
the  Father" ;  and  "I  believe,"  says  the  other,  "in  the  eternal 
physical  universe,  without  spiritual  origin  or  moral  purpose." 
Says  the  Christian,  "I  believe  in  the  immortality  of  persons," 
and  the  atheist  replies,  "I  believe  that  the  spirit  dies  with  the 
body  as  sound  ceases  when  the  bell's  swinging  iron  grows 
still."  Says  the  Christian,  "I  believe  in  the  ultimate  triumph 
of  righteousness";  and  the  atheist  replies,  "I  believe  that  all 
man's  aspiration  after  good  is  but  the  endless  sailing  of  a 
ship  that  never  shall  arrive."  So  the  two  may  play  battledore 
and  shuttlecock,  but  if,  so  having  paired  beliefs,  they  part  with 
no  more  said,  they  have  missed  the  real  point  of  their 
difference.  The  irreligious  man  can  match  the  Christian's 
belief  with  his  own,  but  one  thing  he  cannot  match — the 
Christian's  trust.  He  has  nothing  that  remotely  corresponds 
with  that. 

The  Christian  always  has  this  case  to  plead  with  an  unbe- 
lieving man :  Do  not  suppose  that  the  difference  between  us 
is  exhausted  in  a  conflict  of  contrasting  propositions.  Great 
indeed  is  the  divergence  there!  But  the  issue  of  all  such  differ- 
ence lies  in  another  realm.  When  you  face  life's  abysmal 
mysteries  that  your  eyes  can  no  more  pierce  than  mine,  you 
have  no  one  to  trust.  When  misfortunes  fall  that  send  men  to 
their  graves,  as  Sydney  Smith  said,  with  souls  scarred  like  a 
soldier's  body,  you  have  no  one  to  trust.  When  you  face  the 
last  mystery  of  all  and  whether  going  say  farewell  to  those 
who  stay,  or  staying  bid  farewell  to  those  who  go,  you  have 
no  one  to  trust.  You  can  match  my  belief  with  your  belief, 
but  for  one  thing  you  have  no  counterpart.  "Jehovah  is  my 
shepherd,  I  shall  not  want"  (Psalm  23:  i).  You  cannot  match 
that !  "My  heart  hath  trusted  in  him,  and  I  am  helped" 
(Psalm  28:7).  You  cannot  match  that!  "Shall  not  the 
Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right?"  (Gen.  18:25);  "We  have 
our  hope  set  on  the  living  God"  (I  Tim.  4:  10)  ;  "Father,  into 
thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit"  (Luke  23:46).  That  trust 
you  cannot  match! 

Ill 

In  the  light  of  this  distinction  between  belief  and  trust  some 
mistaken  types  of  faith  can  be  easily  described.  There,  for 
example,  is  the  faith  of  formal  creedalism.  We  cannot  have 

93 


[IV-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

trust  without  some  belief,  but  we  may  unhappily  have  belief 
without  any  trust.  Now  a  man  who  believes  the  doctrines  that 
tmderly  the  Christian  life  but  who  does  not  vitally  trust  the 
Person  whom  those  doctrines  present,  has  missed  the  heart 
out  of  faith's  meaning.  He  is  like  one  who  cherishes  a  letter 
of  introduction  to  a  great  personality,  but  has  never  used  it; 
he  has  the  formal  credentials,  but  not  the  transforming  expe- 
rience. It  follows  that  we  cannot  estimate  a  man  merely  by 
knowing  his  beliefs.  I  believe  in  all  the  Christian  truths,  says 
one;  and  the  curious  question  rises,  how  did  these  beliefs  of 
his  come  into  his  possession  ?  They  may  have  been  handed 
to  him  by  his  forbears  like  a  set  of  family  jewels,  a  static  and 
external  heritage,  which  now  he  keeps  in  some  ecclesiastical 
safe-deposit  vault  and  on  state  days,  at  Christmas  or  at  Easter, 
goes  to  see.  Still  he  may  claim  that  they  are  his  beliefs ;  he 
may  even  quarrel  about  their  genuineness,  not  because  he  ever 
uses  them  but  because  they  are  his.  He  may  repeat  the  creed 
with  the  same  unquestioning  assent  that  he  gives  to  the  con- 
ventional cut  of  his  clothes.  His  beliefs  are  not  the  natural 
utterance  and  explanation  of  his  inner  life  with  God  and  man, 
but  are  put  on  as  they  were  handed  to  him,  like  the  fashions 
of  his  coats.  So  easy  is  it  to  be  formally  orthodox ! 

Over  against  such  conventional  believers  one  thinks  of  other 
folk  whom  he  has  known.  They  have  no  such  stereotyped, 
clear-cut  beliefs.  They  are  very  puzzled  about  life.  It  seems 
to  them  abysmally  mysterious.  And  when  they  speak  they  talk 
with  a  modesty  the  formal  creedalist  has  never  felt :  My  be- 
liefs are  most  uncertain.  Confused  by  many  voices  shouting 
conflicting  opinions  about  truths  which  I  once  accepted  with- 
out thinking,  I  cannot  easily  define  my  thoughts.  But  I  do 
trust  God.  That  assent  of  the  mind  which  I  cannot  give  to 
propositions,  I  can  give  to  him.  Life  is  full  of  mystery,  but 

,    I  do  not  really  think  that  the  mystery  is  darkness  at  its  heart. 

•  My  faith  has  yet  its  standing  ground  in  this,  that  the  world's 
activities  are  not  like  the  convulsions  of  an  epileptic,  uncon- 
scious and  purposeless.  There  is  a  Mind  behind  the  universe, 
and  a  good  purpose  in  it. 

"Yet  in  the  maddening  maze  of  things, 
And  tossed  by  storm  and  flood, 
To  one  fixed  trust  my  spirit  clings ; 
I  know  that  God  is  good." 

94 


BELIEF  AND  TRUST  [IV-c] 

Say  as  one  may  that  such  an  attitude  is  far  from  adequate, 
yet  as  compared  with  the  merely  formal  acceptance  of  inher- 
ited opinions  how  incomparably  superior  its  religious  value  is ! 
The  people  of  placid,  stiff  beliefs  are  not  the  successors  of 
the  real  saints.  When  one  reads  George  Matheson's  books 
of  devotion,  for  example,  or  sings  his  hymn  "O  Love,  that 
wilt  not  let  me  go,"  or  learns  of  his  great  work  in  his  church 
in  Edinburgh,  one  might  suppose  that  he  never  had  a  doubt. 
Yet  listen  to  his  own  confession:  "At  one  time  with  a  great 
thrill  of  horror,  I  found  myself  an  absolute  atheist.  After 
being  ordained, at  Innellan,  I  believed  nothing;  neither  God 
nor  immortality.  I  tendered  my  resignation  to  the  Presby- 
tery, but  to  their  honor  they  would  not  accept  it,  even  though 
an  Highland  Presbytery.  They  said  I  was  a  young  man  and 
would  change.  I  have  changed."  One  need  only  read  such 
books  of  his  as  "Can  the  Old  Faith  Live  with  the  New?"  to 
see  through  what  a  searching  discipline  of  strenuous  thought 
he  passed  in  the  regaining  of  his  faith.  But  if  one  would 
know  what  held  his  religious  life  secure  while  he  was  work- 
ing out  his  beliefs  from  confusion  to  clarity,  one  must  turn 
to  Matheson's  poem : 

"Couldst  thou  love  Me 
When  creeds  are  breaking — 
Old  landmarks  shaking 
With  wind  and  sea? 

Couldst  thou  refrain  the  earth  from  quaking 
And  rest  thy  heart  on  Me?" 

Many  a  man  has  been  held  fast  by  his  trust  in  God  while  in 
perplexity  he  thought  out  his  beliefs  about  God. 

Indeed,  within  the  Scripture,  whatever  word  is  used  to  de- 
scribe the  attitude  of  faith,  this  vital  personal  alliance  with 
God  is  everywhere  intended.  For  convenience  we  have  called 
faith  in  propositions  belief,  but  that  does  not  mean  that  when 
the  Scriptures  use  "believe"  they  are  urging  the  acceptance 
of  propositions.  Not  often  in  the  Bible  are  we  invited  merely 
to  agree  with  an  opinion ;  we  are  everywhere  called  to  trust 
a  Person.  "Trust  in  the  Lord"  in  the  Old  Testament,  "Be- 
lieve in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ"  in  the  New,  are  neither  of 
them  the  proclamation  of  a  theory,  but  the  exaltation  of  a 
personality.  Wherever  in  Scripture  doctrines  are  insisted  on— 

95 


[IV-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

the  unity  of  God,  the  deathlessness  of  the  spirit,  the  divinity 
of  Christ — they  are  never  doctrines  for  their  own  sakes; 
they  arc  cither  commendatory  truths  about  a  Friend,  that  we 
may  not  fail  to  trust  him,  or  they  are  ideas  about  life  that 
have  come  to  men  because  they  did  trust  him.  Trust  in  a 
Person  is  either  the  source  or  the  goal  of  every  Christian 
doctrine.  The  Gospel  at  its  center  is  not  a  series  of  proposi- 
tions, but  a  concrete,  personal  relationship  opened  between  the 
soul  and  the  Divine,  out  of  which  new  powers,  joys,  possibil- 
ities flow  gloriously  into  human  life.  When  out  of  this  expe- 
rience of  divine  fellowship  Paul,  for  example,  speaks  of  faith 
he  means  by  it  the  alliance  that  binds  him  to  his  friend.  He 
fairly  sings  of  the  peace  that  comes  from  such  believing 
(Rom.  15:  13),  of  the  love  that  is  its  motive  power  and  chief 
expression  (Gal.  5:6),  and  of  "the  sacrifice  and  service"  which 
are  its  issue  (Phil.  2:  17).  He  enthusiastically  commends  to 
everyone  this  divine  alliance  through  which  moral  defeat  is 
changed  to  victory  in  the  "righteousness  which  is  of  God 
by  faith"  (Phil.  3:9);  and  his  prose  slips  over  into  poetry 
when  he  describes  his  new  transfigured  life  as  "access  by. 
faith  into  that  grace  wherein  we  stand"  (Rom.  5:2).  Plainly 
he  is  not  talking  here  about  a  set  of  propositions ;  he  is  re- 
joicing in  a  transforming  personal  relationship.  Some  faith 
is  nothing  but  an  inherited  set  of  opinions  and  it  gives  a 
cold  light  like  an  incandescent  bulb ;  some  faith,  like  sunshine, 
is  brighter  for  seeing  than  any  incandescence  can  ever  be,  but 
warm  too,  so  that  under  its  persuasive  touch  new  worlds  of 
life  spring  into  being.  The  faith  of  the  New  Testament  and 
of  the  real  saints  is  not  the  cold  brilliance  of  a  creed  in  whose 
presence  one  can  freeze  even  while  he  sees ;  it  is  the  warm, 
life-giving  sunshine  of  a  trust  in  God  that  makes  all  gracious 
things  grow,  and  puts  peace  and  joy,  hope  and  love  into  life. 
Belief  in  propositions  is  there,  but  the  crown  and  glory  of  it 
are  trust  in  a  Person. 

IV 

In  the  light  of  this  distinction  between  belief  and  trust,  the 
inadequacy  of  another  type  of  faith  can  easily  be  understood. 
Many  would  protest  that  they  have  not  accepted  their  beliefs 
as  an  external  heritage  from  the  past,  but  rather  have  thought 
them  through,  and  hold  them  now  as  reasonable  theories  to 
explain  the  facts  of  the  spiritual  life.  They  would  say  that 

96 


BELIEF  AND  TRUST  [IV-c] 

as  a  geologist  observes  the  rocks  and  constructs  an  hypothesis 
to  account  lor  their  origin  and  nature,  so  the  mind,  observing 
man's  contacts  with  invisible  powers,  constructs  religious  be- 
liefs as  explanations  of  experience.  They  would  insist  that 
their  theology  is  not  merely  traditional,  but  in  large  degree  is 
independently  appropriated  and  original.  They  hold  it  as  an 
hypothesis  to  make  intelligible  man's  experiences  of  the  spir- 
itual world. 

There  is  significant  truth  in  this  view  of  faith.  Man's  ideals, 
his  loves,  hopes,  aspirations,  his  unescapable  sense  of  moral 
obligation,  his  consciousness  of  Someone  other  than  himself, 
are  facts,  as  solidly  present  in  experience  as  stars  and  moun- 
tains. To  explain  these  facts  by  theology  is  as  rational  as  to 
explain  the  stars  by  astronomy.  Every  believer  in  religious 
truth  should  welcome  this  confirming  word  from  Dr.  Pritchett, 
written  when  he  was  President  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute 
of  Technology:  "Science  is  grounded  in  faith  just  as  is  reli- 
gion, and  scientific  truth,  like  religious  truth,  consists  of 
hypotheses,  never  wholly  verified,  that  fit  the  facts  more  or 
less  closely." 

But  when  one  turns  from  such  a  statement  to  inquire  what 
faith  has  actually  meant  to  religious  men,  he  does  not  find 
that  their  experience  could  easily  be  defined  as  belief  in  an 
hypothesis.  The  prophets,  standing  their  ground  through  na- 
tional disaster,  undiscourageable  in  their  conviction  of  God's 
good  purpose  for  His  people,  would  have  been  surprised  to 
hear  their  faith  so  described.  When  the  Sons  of  Thunder 
were  swept  out  into  a  new  life  by  the  influence  of  Jesus,  or 
the  seer  of  Patmos  was  ravished  with  visions  of  eternal  vic- 
tory, or  Paul  was  made  conqueror  in  a  fight  for  character 
that  had  been  his  despair,  they  would  hardly  have  spoken  of 
their  experiences  as  belief  in  an  hypothesis.  Real  religion  has 
always  meant  something  more  vital  than  holding  a  theory 
about  life.  When  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  says  of  his  trans- 
formation of  character,  "I  came  about  like  a  well-handled 
ship.  There  stood  at  the  wheel  that  unknown  steersman 
whom  we  call  God" ;  when  Tolstoi  cries :  "To  know  God  and 
to  live  are  one  and  the  same  thing";  when  Professor  William 
James,  of  Harvard,  writes  of  his  consciousness  of  God,  "It  is 
most  indefinite  to  be  sure  and  rather  faint,  and  yet  I  know 
that  if  it  should  cease,  there  would  be  a  great  hush,  a  great 
void  in  my  life";  one  sees  what  conversion  of  character, 

97 


[IV-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

what  increase  of  life's  value,  what  spiritual  reenforcement 
religion  has  meant  even  to  such  unconventional  believers. 
When  they  speak  of  it,  they  are  evidently  thinking  of  a  vital 
power  and  not  a  theory. 

The  most  obscure  Christian  to  whom  religion  has  become  a 
necessity  in  living,  knows  how  far  short  the  plummet  of 
hypothetical  belief  comes  from  reaching  bottom.  In  sin,  bur- 
dened by  a  sense  of  guilt  that  he  could  not  shake  off  and 
unable  to  forgive  himself,  he  has  cried  to  be  forgiven,  and 
the  Gospel  that  has  been  his  hope  was  no  injunction  to  hold 
hard  by  his  hypothesis !  In  sorrow,  when  the  blows  have 
fallen  that  either  hallow  or  embitter  life,  he  has  sought  for 
necessary  fortitude,  and  the  Gospel  which  established  him  cer- 
tainly was  not,  Cast  thy  care  on  thine  hypothesis !  And  when, 
more  than  conqueror,  he  faces  death,  his  confidence  and  hope 
will  rest  on  no  such  prayer  as  this,  O  Hypothesis,  guide  me ! 
The  word  of  religion  is  of  another  sort,  "Though  I  walk 
through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will  fear  no 
evil,  for  Thou  art  with  me."  Not  belief  in  propositions,  but 
trust  in  a  Person  has  been  the  heart  of  the  Gospel,  and  to 
make  any  hypothesis,  however  true,  do  duty  as  religion  is  to 
give  the  soul  a  stone  when  it  asks  for  bread. 

The  futility  of  seeking  contentment  in  faith  as  an  hypothesis 
alone  is  especially  manifest  in  our  time.  This  is  an  age  of 
swiftly  changing  ideas  in  every  realm.  As  in  science,  so  in 
religion,  today  one  theory  holds  the  field  to  be  displaced  to- 
morrow by  another.  A  man  in  theology,  as  much  as  in  politics 
or  psychology,  goes  to  bed  supposing  he  has  settled  his  opin- 
ions, and  wakes  up  to  find  a  new  array  of  evidence  that  dis- 
turbs his  confidence.  When,  therefore,  religious  faith  has 
meant  no  more  to  its  possessor  than  theory,  there  is  no  secur- 
ity or  rest.  Each  day  the  winds  of  opinion  shift  and  veer,  and 
minds  at  the  beginning  obstinate  in  their  beliefs,  at  last,  dis- 
mayed by  the  reiterated  uncertainties  of  thought,  give  up 
their  faith. 

Where,  then,  have  the  men  of  faith  found  the  immovable 
center  of  their  confidence?  Paul  revealed  the  secret.  On  the 
side  of  his  particular  opinions  he  frankly  confessed  his  limited 
and  uncertain  knowledge.  "Now  we  know  in  fragments," 
he  wrote,  "now  we  see  through  a  glass  darkly."  "How  un- 
searchable are  his  judgments  and  his  ways  past  tracing  out!" 
But  on  the  side  of  his  trust  he  is  adamant :  "I  know  him  whom 

98 


BELIEF  AND  TRUST  [IV-c] 

I  have  believed."  jThe  certainty  of  his  life  was  his  relation- 
ship with  a  person,,  and  his  beliefs  were  the  best  he  yet  had 
thought  in  the  explication  and  establishment  of  that  trust. 

The  great  believers  of  the  Church  continually  have  exhib- 
ited this  dual  aspect  of  their  faith.  Even  St.  Augustine,  facing 
the  profound  mysteries  involved  in  his  trinitarian  belief,  com- 
plains that  human  speech  is  pitiably  futile  in  trying  to  ex- 
plain what  ''Three  persons"  means,  and  that  if  he  uses  the 
familiar  phrase,  he  does  so  not  because  he  likes  it,  but  because 
he  may  not  be  silent  and  knows  no  better  thing  to  say.  But 
when  Augustine  prays  to  the  God  whose  nature  is  so  un- 
fathomable that  no  man  can  see  it  fully  or  express  it  ade- 
quately, he  reveals  no  such  uncertain  thought :  "Grant  me,  even 
me,  my  dearest  Lord,  to  know  Thee  and  love  Thee  and  rejoice 
in  Thee.  .  .  .  Let  the  love  of  Thee  grow  every  day  more  and 
more  here,  that  it  may  be  perfect  hereafter;  that  my  joy  may 
be  great  in  itself  and  full  in  Thee.  I  know,  O  God,  that  thou 
art  a  God  of  truth ;  O  make  good  Thy  gracious  promises  to 
me  1"  So  children  do  not  fully  understand  an  earthly  father 
and  often  hold  conceptions  grotesquely  insufficient  to  do 
justice  to  his  life  and  work.  But  they  may  have  for  him 
well-founded  trust.  Even  in  the  years  of  infancy  an  en- 
nobling personal  relationship  begins,  despite  the  inadequacy 
of  their  beliefs,  and  that  trust  yearly  deepens  while  mental 
concepts  shift  and  change  with  access  of  new  knowledge.  The 
abiding  core  of  a  child's  life  with  his  father  is  not  belief  but 
trust. 

Such  has  always  been  the  secret  of  faith's  stability  in  men 
who  have  entered  into  personal  fellowship  with  God.  Even 
of  the  first  disciples  it  has  been  said — "They  would  have  had 
difficulty  sometimes  to  tell  you  li-hat  they  believed,  but  they 
could  always  have  told  you  in  whom  they  believed." 


The  truth  of  which  we  have  been  speaking  has  pertinent 
bearing  on  the  main  object  of  our  studies.  We  shall  be  con- 
sidering the  difficulties  which  Christians  have  with  their  be- 
liefs, and  the  arguments  which  may  clarify  and  establish  our 
minds'  confidence  in  God.  But  many  problems  in  the  realm 
of  intellectual  belief  cannot  be  solved  by  any  arguments  which 

99 


[IV-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

the  mind  devises.  The  trouble  often  lies  not  in  our  theories 
about  the  religious  life,  but  in  our  religious  life  itself.  The 
deeper  difficulty  is  not  that  our  thinking  is  unreasonable,  but 
that  our  experience  is  unreal. 

To  a  man  who  never  had  seen  the  stars  or  felt  the  wonder 
of  their  distances,  astronomy  would  be  a  lifeless  topic  and  his 
endeavors  to  think  about  it  a  blundering  and  futile  operation. 
Our  theories  about  anything  depend  for  their  interest  and 
worth  upon  the  vividness  with  which  we  experience  the 
thing  itself  and  care  to  understand  its  meaning.  This  is  true 
about  matters  like  the  stars ;  how  much  more  true  about  the 
intimate  affairs  of  man's  own  life!  Democracy  vs.  autocracy 
is  a  crucial  problem.  But  plenty  of  men  are  so  careless  about 
human  weal,  think  so  little  of  their  country  and  the  world  as 
objects  of  solicitude  and  devotion,  that  to  discuss  in  their 
presence  democratic  and  autocratic  theories  of  state  is  a  waste 
of  time.  The  trouble  is  not  with  their  minds ;  they  may  be 
very  clever  and  acute.  The  trouble  is  with  their  lives. 
They  need  to  experience  patriotism  as  a  vital  motive;  they 
need  to  care  immensely  what  happens  to  mankind.  Only  then 
will  the  problems  of  government  grow  vivid,  and  the  need 
of  a  solution  become  so  critical  that  thinking  will  be  urgent 
and  productive.  We  never  think  well  about  anything  for 
which  we  do  not  care. 

Plenty  of  people  today  discuss  theology  as  an  academic 
pastime.  It  is  a  speculative  game  at  which  they  play,  as  they 
do  at  golf,  for  its  fun  and  lure.  They  do  not  really  care 
about  God;  they  feel  no  crucial  need  of  him.  Of  little  use  is 
all  their  ingenuity  in  argument,  clever  and  astute  though  it 
may  be.  Blind  men  might  so  discuss  the  color  scheme  of  an 
Italian  landscape  and  deaf  men  debate  the  harmonies  of 
Handel's  oratorios.  What  is  lacking  is  experience.  For  our 
theories  are  only  the  explanations  of  experience,  and  an 
emptier  game  cannot  be  played  than  debating  explanations  of 
experiences  which  we  have  not  had. 

Everyone  in  difficulty  with  his  faith  should  give  due  weight 
to  this  important  truth.  Our  intellectual  troubles  are  not  all 
caused  by  the  bankruptcy  of  our  spiritual  lives,  but  many  of 
them  are.  Men  live  with  drained  and  unreplenished  spirits, 
from  which  communion  with  God  and  service  of  high  causes 
have  been  crowded  out.  God  grows  unreal.  The  self-evidenc- 
ing experiences  that  maintain  vital  confidence  in  the  spiritual 

100 


BELIEF  AND  TRUST  [IV-c] 

life  grow  dim  and  unimperative.  Men  pass  years  without 
habitually  thinking  as  though  God  really  were,  without  mak- 
ing any  great  decisions  as  though  God's  will  were  King,  with- 
out engaging  in  any  sacrificial  work  that  makes  the  thought  of 
God  a  need  and  a  delight,  without  the  companionship  of  great 
ideas  or  the  sustenance  of  prayer.  Then,  when  experience  is 
denuded  of  any  sense  of  God's  reality,  some  intellectual  doubt 
is  suggested  by  books  or  friends,  or  fearful  trouble  shatters 
happiness.  What  recourse  is  there  in  such  a  case?  The  argu- 
ments of  faith  have  no  experience  to  get  their  grip  upon; 
they  can  appeal  to  no  solid  and  sustained  fact  of  living.  Re- 
ligious confidence  goes  to  pieces  and  men  tell  their  friends 
that  modern  philosophy  has  been  too  much  for  faith.  But  the 
underlying  difficulty  was  not  philosophical ;  it  was  vital.  The 
insolvency  of  "belief"  was  due  to  the  bankruptcy  of  "trust." 
Personal  fellowship  with  God  failed  first;  the  theory  about 
him  lapsed  afterward. 

Throughout  our  endeavor  to  deal  with  intellectual  perplex- 
ity, this  fundamental  truth  should  not  be  forgotten.  The 
peril  of  religion  is  that  vital  experience  shall  be  resolved  into 
a  formula  of  explanation,  and  that  men,  grasping  the  formula, 
shall  suppose  themselves  thereby  to  possess  the  experience. 
If  one  inquires  what  air  is,  the  answer  will  probably  be  a 
formula  stating  that  oxygen  and  nitrogen  mixed  in  propor- 
tions of  twenty-one  to  seventy-nine  make  air.  But  air  in 
experience  is  not  a  formula.  Air  is  the  elixir  we  breathe  and 
live  thereby.  Air  is  the  magician  who  takes  the  words  that 
our  lips  frame  and  bears  them  from  friend  to  friend  in  daily 
converse.  Air  is  the  messenger  who  carries  music  to  our 
ears  and  fragrance  to  our  nostrils ;  it  is  the  whisperer  among 
the  trees  in  June,  and  in  March  the  wild  dancer  who  shakes 
the  bare  branches  for  his  castanets.  Air  is  the  giant  who 
piles  the  surf  against  the  rocky  shore,  and  the  nurse  who  fans 
the  faces  of  the  sick.  One  cannot  put  that  into  a  formula. 
No  more  can  God  be  put  into  a  theology,  however  true.  They 
who  define  him  best  may  understand  him  least.  God  is  the 
Unseen  Friend,  the  Spiritual  Presence,  who  calls  us  in  ideals, 
warns  us  in  remorse,  renews  us  with  his  pardon,  and  com- 
forts us  with  power.  God  is  the  Spirit  of  Righteousness  in 
human  life,  whose  victories  we  see  in  every  moral  gain,  and 
allied  with  whom  we  have  solid  hopes  of  moral  victory. 
God  is  the  One  who  holds  indeed  the  far  stars  in  his  hand, 

101 


[IV-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

and  yet  in  fellowship  with  whom  each  humblest  son  of  man 
may  find  strength  to  do  and  to  endure  with  constancy  and 
fortitude  and  deathless  hope.  And  when  one  lives  close  to 
him,  so  that  the  inner  doors  swing  easily  on  quiet  hinges  to 
let  him  in,  he  is  the  One  who  illumines  life  with  a  radiance 
that  human  wills  alone  cannot  attain.  That  is  God — "Blessed 
is  the  man  that  taketh  refuge  in  him"  (Psalm  34:8). 


102 


CHAPTER  V 

Faith's  Intellectual   Difficulties 

DAILY  READINGS 

Most  people  will  readily  grant  that  such  a  sense  of  personal 
fellowship  with  God  as  the  last  week's  study  presented  is 
obviously  desirable.  Every  one  who  has  experienced  such 
filial  life  with  God  will  bear  witness  to  its  incomparable  bless- 
ing. Said  Tennyson,  "I  should  be  sorely  afraid  to  live  my 
life  without  God's  presence,  but  to  feel  he  is  by  my  side 
just  now  as  much  as  you  are,  that  is  the  very  joy  of  my 
heart."  But  many  who  would  admit  the  desirability  of  the 
experience  are  troubled  about  the  reasonableness  of  the  be- 
liefs that  underly  it.  They  want  intellectual  assurance  about 
their  faith.  Let  us  in  the  daily  readings  present  certain  con- 
siderations which  a  mind  so  perplexed  should  take  into  ac- 
count. 

Fifth  Week,  First  Day 

We  should  let  no  one  deny  our  right  to  bring  religious  be- 
lief to  the  test  of  reasonableness.  Glanvill  was  right  when 
in  the  seventeenth  century  he  said,  "There  is  not  anything  I 
know  which  hath  done  more  mischief  to  Religion  than  the 
disparaging  of  Reason."  In  the  New  Testament  Paul  says: 

Prove  all  things;  hold  fast  that  which  is  good. — I  Thess. 
5:  21. 

Peter  says: 

Yea,  and  for  this  very  cause  adding  on  your  part  all 
diligence,  in  your  faith  supply  virtue;  and  in  your  virtue 
knowledge. — II  Pet.  i:  5. 

This  might  be  paraphrased  to  read,  Faith  should  be  worked 
out  into  character  and  thought  through  into  knowledge.  As 
for  Jesus : 

103 


IV-i]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

One  of  the  scribes  came,  and  heard  them  question- 
ing together,  and  knowing  that  he  had  answered  them 
well,  asked  him,  What  commandment  is  the  first  of  all? 
Jesus  answered,  The  first  is,  Hear,  O  Israel;  The  Lord 
our  God,  the  Lord  is  one:  and  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and 
with  all  thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy  strength. — Mark  12: 
28-30. 

In  many  a  life  which  has  neglected  these  admonitions  Lowell's 
words  have  proved  true :  "Nothing  that  keeps  thought  out  is 
safe  from  thought."  In  our  resolute  endeavor  to  think 
through  the  mystery  of  life,  however,  and  to  find  a  reason- 
able basis  for  faith,  we  need  to  remember  that  the  very  desire 
to  know  is  an  indication  of  the  reality  which  we  seek.  The 
dim  intuition  that  the  world  with  all  its  diverse  powers  was 
in  some  sense  a  unity,  preceded  by  ages  the  statement  of 
nature's  uniformity  which  modern  science  knows;  and  man's 
tireless  desire  to  reach  a  reasonable  statement  of  the  unity 
was  an  intimation  in  advance  that  unity  was  there.  So  men 
do  not  believe  in  God  because  they  have  proved  him ;  they 
rather  strive  endlessly  to  prove  him  because  they  cannot  help 
being  sure  that  he  must  be  there.  This  in  itself  is  an  intima- 
tion about  reality  which  no  thoughtful  man  will  lightly  set 
aside.  Tennyson  rightly  describes  the  reason  for  man's 
quest  after  proof  about  God: 

"If  e'er  when  faith  had  fall'n  asleep, 
I  heard  a  voice  'believe  no  more' 
And  heard  an  ever-breaking  shore 

That  tumbled  in  the  Godless  deep; 

A  warmth  within  the  breast  would  melt 
The  freezing  reason's  colder  part, 
And  like  a  man  in  wrath  the  heart 

Stood  up  and  answer'd  'I  have  felt.' " 

Eternal  Father,  Quest  of  ages,  long  sought,  oft  doubted 
or  forsook;  can  it  be  that  Thou  art  known  to  us,  the  Law 
within  our  minds,  the  Life  of  every  breath  we  draw,  the  Love 
that  yearneth  in  our  hearts?  Art  Thou  the  Spirit  who  oft 
hast  striven  with  us,  and  whom  we  greatly  feared,  lest  yield- 
ing to  His  strong  embrace  we  should  become  more  than  we 
dared  to  be? 

104 


INTELLECTUAL  DIFFICULTIES  [V-2] 

An  impulse  toward  forgiveness  lias  sometimes  stirred  with- 
in us,  ccv  have  felt  moved  to  show  mercy,  the  sacrificial  life 
has  touched  our  aspiration;  but  we  were  unprepared  to  pay 
the  price.  Was  this  Thyself,  and  have  we  turned  from  Thee? 
Something  like  this  Ztr  must  hare  done,  so  barren,  joyless  and 
so  dead  has  life  become.  Canst  Thou  not  visit  us  again? 

We  hush  our  thoughts  to  silence,  zve  school  our  spirits  in 
sincerity,  and  here  we  wait.  O  may  w.'c  not  feel  once  more 
the  light  upon  our  straining  eyes,  the  tides  of  life  rise  again 
within  our  waiting  hearts? 

We  never  looked  to  meet  Thee  in  the  stress  of  thought, 
the  toil  of  life,  or  in  the  call  of  duty;  we  only  knew  that 
somehow  life  had  lost  for  us  all  meaning,  dignity,  and 
beauty.  How  then  shall  we  turn  back  again  and  see  with 
eyes  that  fear  has  filmed?  How  can  zve  be  born  again,  nozv 
grown  so  old  in  fatal  habit? 

If  w'e  could  see  this  life  of  ours  lived  out  in  Thee,  its 
common  days  e.raltcd,  its  circumstances  made  a  tlirone,  its 
bitterness,  disappointment,  and  failure  all  redeemed,  then  our 
hearts  might  stir  again,  and  these  trembling  hands  lay  hold 
on  life  for  evermore.  Amen. — W.  E.  Orchard. 


Fifth  Week,  Second  Day 

Not  only  is  man's  tireless  quest  for  assurance  about  God 
an  intimation  that  God  must  be  here  to  be  sought-after;  but 
the  spiritual  nature  of  man  winch  insists  on  the  quest  is 
itself  a  revelation  that  God  actually  is  here.  Some  men  say 
that  our  spiritual  life  is  the  result  of  evolution,  and  they 
suppose  that  by  this  magic  word  they  have  explained  it.  But 
what  comes  out  of  a  process  of  growth  was  somehow  latent 
in  the  Original  Beginning  from  which  the  growth  started. 
Palm-trees  do  not  grow  from  acorns ;  only  oaks  evolve  from 
acorns  and  for  the  sufficient  reason  that  oaks  are  somehow 
involved  in  acorns  to  start  with.  So  a  universe  with  spiritual 
life  in  it  naturally  presupposes  an  Original  with  spiritual 
life  in  It.  Whatever  evolves  must  first  of  all  have  been  in- 
volved. The  very  fact  that  the  seeker  after  God  has  a 
spiritual  life,  which  is  restless  and  unsatisfied  without  faith 
in  the  Eternal  Spirit,  is  one  of  the  clearest  indications  that, 
whatever  else  may  be  said  about  the  source  of  life,  it  must  be 
spiritual.  The  Nile  for  ages  was  a  mystery ;  it  flowed  through 

105 


JV-2]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

Egypt — a  blessed  necessity  to  the  land,  enriching  the  soil, 
and  sustaining  the  people — but  nobody  knew  its  source.  Long 
before  Victoria  Nyanza  was  discovered,  however,  thinkers 
were  sure  that  a  great  lake  must  be  the  explanation  of  the 
stream ;  and  when  at  last  they  found  the  sources  of  the 
Nile,  the  lake  was  even  greater  than  anyone  had  dreamed. 
So  is  man's  spirit  a  revelation  of  a  spiritual  origin  even  be- 
fore that  origin  is  clearly  known.  As  the  Bible  puts  it: 

Now  he  that  wrought  us  for  this  very  thing  is  God,  who 
gave  unto  us  the  earnest  of  the  Spirit. — II  Cor.  5:  5. 

O  God!  mysterious  and  Infinite,  Thou  art  the  first  and  Thou 
the  last:  as  our  weeks  pass  away  and  our  age  rises  or  declines, 
•we  still  return  to  Thee  who  ever  art  the  same.  We  seek  Thee 
as  the  sole  abiding  light  amid  the  shadows  of  perishable 
things.  O  Thou  most  ancient  God!  to  whom  the  heavens  are 
but  of  yesterday,  and  the  life  of  worlds  but  as  the  shooting 
star,  there  is  no  number  of  Thy  days  and  mercies;  and  what 
can  we  do,  O  Lord,  but  throw  ourselves  on  Thee  who  failest 
not,  and  from  whom  our  pathway  is  not  hid?  With  solemn 
and  open  heart  we  would  meet  Thee  here.  Cover  not  Thy- 
self with  a  cloud,  most  High,  but  may  our  prayer  pass 
through. 

O  Thou  our  constant  Witness  and  our  awful  Judge!  When 
*we  remember  our  thoughtless  lives,  our  low  desires,  our  im- 
patient temper,  our  ungoverned  wills,  we  know  that  Thou 
hast  left  us  without  excuse.  For  Thou  hast  not  made  us 
blind,  O  Lord,  as  the  creatures  that  have  no  sin;  nor  hast 
Thou  spared  the  light  of  holy  guidance.  Thy  still  small 
voice  of  warning  whispers  through  our  deepest  conscience ; 
and  Thine  open  Word  hath  dwelt  among  us,  full  of  grace 
and  truth,  and  called  us  to  the  feet  of  Christ  to  choose  the 
better  part.  We  are  not  our  own,  and  are  ashamed  to  have 
lived  unto  ourselves.  Thou  hast  formed  us  for  Thy  service, 
and  we  must  hide  our  face  that  we  have  shrunk  from  the 
glorious  hardships  of  our  task,  and  slumbered  on  our  holy 
watch.  Our  daily  work  has  not  been  wrought  as  in  Thy 
sight;  and  we  have  not  made  the  outgoings  of  the  morning 
and  the  evening  to  praise  Thee.  The  trials  of  our  patience 
we  have  received  as  earthly  pains  of  nature,  not  as  the 
heavenly  discipline  of  faith;  and  the  fulness  of  Thy  bounties 

106 


INTELLECTUAL  DIFFICULTIES  [V-3J 

has  come  to  us  as  dead  comfort,  not  as  the  quickening  touch 
of  Thy  everlasting  love.  O  our  true  and  only  God!  we  have- 
lived  in  a  bondage  of  the  world  that  bringcth  no  content; 
and  the  passions  we  serve  are  as  strange  idols  that  cannot 
deliver.  Awake,  awake,  O  Ann  of  the  Lord!  and  burst  our 
bonds  in  sunder;  and  help  the  spirit  that  struggles  within  us 
to  turn  unto  Thee  with  a  pure  heart,  and  serve  Thee  in 
newness  of  spirit.  Amen. — James  Martineau. 

Fifth  Week,  Third  Day 

Many  stumble  at  the  very  beginning  of  their  quest  for 
God,  because  they  are  sure  that  finite  mind  can  never  know 
the  Infinite.  The  Bible  itself  asserts  that  God  is  in  one  sense 
unknowable. 

Touching  the  Almighty,  we  cannot  find  him  out. — 
Job  37:  23. 

Man  cannot  find  out  the  work  that  God  hath  done  from, 
the  beginning  even  to  the  end. — Eccl.  3:  11. 

O  the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  the 
knowledge  of  God!  how  unsearchable  are  his  judgments, 
and  his  ways  past  tracing  out!  For  who  hath  known  the 
mind  of  the  Lord?  or  who  hath  been  his  counsellor? — 
Rom.  ii :  33,  34. 

But  in  the  same  sense  in  which  God  is  unknowable,  all  the 
most  important  realities  with  which  we  deal  are  also  beyond, 
our  comprehension.  We  do  not  know  what  electricity  is,, 
what  matter  is,  what  life  is.  Ether  is  utterly  beyond  the- 
reach  of  our  definitions,  and  an  English  scientist  calls  it 
"unknown,  impalpable,  the  necessary  condition  of  scientific 
thought."  As  for  the  constituent  elements  of  the  material 
world,  we  are  told  that  atoms  are  so  infinitesimally  minute 
as  to  be  indivisible,  and  yet  that  an  "electron  ranges  about 
in  the  atom  as  a  mouse  might  in  a  cathedral."  The  plain  fact 
is  that  in  any  realm,  human  knowledge  soon  runs  off  into* 
an  unknown  region  where  it  deals  with  invisible  realities, 
which  it  cannot  define,  but  on  which  life  is  based.  While 
therefore  we  do  not  know  what  electricity,  ether,  electrons, 
and  life  itself  are,  we  do  know  them  well  in  their  relationship 
with  our  needs.  So  we  may  know  God.  Deep  beyond  deep- 
in  him  will  be  past  our  fathoming,  but  what  God  means  ini 
his  relationships  with  our  lives  we  may  know  gloriously. 

107 


[V-4]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

O  Thou  who  transcendest  all  thought  of  Thee  as  the 
heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth;  we  acknowledge  that  we 
cannot  search  Thee  out  to  perfection,  but  we  thank  Thee  that 
Thou,  the  Invisible,  earnest  to  us  in  the  things  that  are  seen; 
that  Thy  exceeding  glory  is  shadowed  in  the  nower  that 
blooms  for  a  day,  in  the  light  that  fades;  that  Thine  infinite 
love  has  been  incarnate  in  lowly  human  life;  and  that  Thy 
presence  surrounds  all  our  ignorance,  Thy  holiness  our  sin, 
Thy  peace  our  unrest. 

Give  us  that  lowly  heart  which  is  the  only  temple  that 
can  contain  the  infinite.  Save  us  from  the  presumption  that 
prides  itself  on  a  knowledge  which  is  not  ours,  and  from  the 
hypocrisy  and  carelessness  which  professes  an  ignorance  which 
Thy  manifestation  has  made  for  ever  impossible.  Save  us 
from  calling  ourselves  by  a  name  that  Thou  alone  canst  wear, 
and  from  despising  the  image  of  Thyself  Thou  hast  formed 
us  to  bear,  and  grant  that  knowledge  of  Thee  revealed  in 
Jesus  Christ  which  is  our  eternal  life.  Amen. — W.  E. 
Orchard. 

Fifth  Week,  Fourth  Day 

The  assurance  of  God  may  come  in  part  from  looking  out- 
ward at  his  creation.  This  universe  seems  superficially  to 
be  material,  but  really  it  is  saturated  with  the  presence  of 
•mind.  So  a  city's  streets,  buildings,  bridges,  subways,  and 
railroads  might  appear  to  careless  thought  grossly  material ; 
but  the  fact  is  that  in  their  origin  they  all  are  mental.  They 
are  not  simply  iron  and  steel  and  stone ;  they  are  thought, 
plan,  purpose  materialized  and  made  visible.  The  basic  fact 
about  them  is  that  mind  shaped  them  and  permeates  every 
use  to  which  they  are  put.  The  most  important  and  decisive 
force  in  their  origination  was  not  anything  that  can  be  seen, 
but  the  invisible  thought  that  dreamed  them  and  moulded 
them.  So  when  one  looks  at  creation  he  finds  something  more 
than  matter;  he  finds  order,  law,  uniformity;  his  mind  is 
at  home  in  tracing  regularities,  discovering  laws,  and  perceiv- 
ing purposes.  Creation  is  not  grossly  material ;  it  is  saturated 
with  the  evidence  of  mind.  Lord  Kelvin,  the  chemist,  walk- 
ing in  the  country  with  Liebig,  his  fellow-scientist,  asked  his 
companion  if  he  believed  that  the  grass  and  flowers  grew  by 
mere  chemical  forces;  and  Liebig  answered,  "No,  no  more 

108 


INTELLECTUAL  DIFFICULTIES  [V-4] 

than    I    could    believe    that   the   books    of    botany    describing 
them  could  grow  by  mere  chemical  forces." 

Lift  up  your  eyes  on  high,  and  see  who  hath  created 
these,  that  bringeth  out  their  host  by  number;  he  calleth 
them  all  by  name;  by  the  greatness  of  his  might,  and  for 
that  he  is  strong  in  power,  not  one  is  lacking. 

Why  sayest  thou,  O  Jacob,  and  speakest,  O  Israel, 
My  way  is  hid  from  Jehovah,  and  the  justice  due  to 
me  is  passed  away  from  my  God?  Hast  thou  not  known? 
hast  thou  not  heard?  The  everlasting  God,  Jehovah,  the 
Creator  of  the  ends  of  the  earth,  fainteth  not,  neither  is 
weary;  there  is  no  searching  of  his  understanding.  He 
giveth  power  to  the  faint;  and  to  him  that  hath  no  might 
he  increaseth  strength.  Even  the  youths  shall  faint  and 
be  weary,  and  the  young  men  shall  utterly  fall:  but  they 
that  wait  for  Jehovah  shall  renew  their  strength;  they 
shall  mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles;  they  shall  run,  and 
not  be  weary;  they  shall  walk,  and  not  faint. — Isa.  40: 
26-31. 

0  Thou  Infinite  Perfection,  who  art  the  soul  of  all  things 
that  are  .  .  .  we  thank  Thee  for  the  world  of  matter  there- 
on we  live,  wherewith  our  hands  are  occupied,  and  whereby 
our  bodies  are  buildcd  up  and  filled  with  food  and  furnished 
with  all  things  needful  to  enjoy.  We  thank  Thee  for  the 
calmness  of  Night,  which  folds  Thy  children  in  her  arms,  and 
rockest  them  into  peaceful  sleep,  and  when  we  wake  ive  thank 
Thee  that  we  are  still  with  Thee.  We  bless  Thee  for  the 
heavens  over  our  head,  arched  with  loveliness,  and  starred 
with  beauty,  speaking  in  the  poetry  of  nature  the  psalm  of  life 
w'hich  the  spheres  chant  before  Thee  to  every  listening  soul. 

We  thank  Thee  for  this  greater  and  nobler  world  of  spirit 
wherein  we  live,  whereof  zve  are,  whereby  we  are  strength- 
ened, upheld,  and  blessed.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  wondrous 
powers  which  Thou  hast  given  to  man,  that  Thou  hast  created 
him  for  so  great  an  estate,  that  thou  hast  enriched  him  with 
such  noble  faculties  of  mind  and  conscience  and  heart  and 
soul,  capable  of  such  continual  increase  of  growth  and  in- 
come of  inspiration  from  Thyself.  We  thank  Thee  for  the 
wise  mind,  for  the  just  conscience,  for  the  loving  heart,  and 
the  soul  which  knows  Thee  as  Thou  art,  and  enters  into 
communion  with  Thy  spirit,  rejoicing  in  its  blessing  from 
day  to  day.  Amen. — Theodore  Parker. 

109 


IV-S]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 


Fifth  Week,  Fifth  Day 

The  vital  assurance  of  faith  always  comes,  not  so  much 
from  observing  the  outer  world,  as  from  appreciating  the 
meaning  of  man's  inner  life.  Man  knows  that  he  is  some- 
thing more  than  a  physical  machine.  Theorists  may  say  that 
•our  minds  are  only  a  series  of  molecular  changes  in  the  brain ; 
but  man  turns  to  ask :  Who  is  it  that  is  watching  these  molecu- 
lar changes?  The  very  fact  that  we  can  discuss  them,  is 
proof  that  we  are  something  more  than  they  are  and  of 
.another  order.  Leslie  Stephen  was  an  agnostic,  but  at  the 
thought  of  man  as  merely  a  physical  machine  he  grew  im- 
patient. "I  knock  down  a  man  and  an  image,"  he  said,  "and 
both  fall  down  because  both  are  material.  But  when  the 
man  gets  up  and  knocks  me  down,  the  result  is  not  explicable 
by  any  merely  mechanical  action."  Man  denies  his  own  in- 
ward consciousness  of  self  when  he  refuses  to  acknowledge 
the  mental  and  spiritual  part  of  him  as  the  thing  he  really 
is.  Man  may  have  a  body,  but  he  surely  is  a  soul.  And 
when  man  lets  this  highest  part  of  him  speak  its  own  charac- 
teristic word,  he  always  hears  a  message  like  this :  I  am 
spirit;  to  grow  into  great  character  is  the  one  worthy  end  of 
my  existence;  but  how  came  I  to  be  spirit  with  spiritual 
purpose  unless  my  Creator  is  of  like  quality?  and  how  can 
I  believe  that  my  existence  and  my  purpose  are  not  a  cruel 
joke  unless  I  am  begotten  by  a  Spiritual  Life  that  will  sustain 
my  strength  and  crown  my  effort?  To  believe  that  man's 
soul  is  a  foundling,  laid  on  the  doorstep  of  a  merely  physical 
universe,  crying  in  vain  for  any  father  who  begot  him  or  any 
mother  who  conceived  him,  is  to  make  our  highest  life  a  liar. 
Therefore  man  at  his  best  has  always  believed  in  God. 

For  as  many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  these  are 
the  sons  of  God.  For  ye  received  not  the  spirit  of  bondage 
again  unto  fear;  but  ye  received  the  spirit  of  adoption, 
whereby  we  cry,  Abba,  Father.  The  Spirit  himself  beareth 
witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we  are  children  of  God. — 
Rom.  8:  14-16. 

O  Thou  whom  no  name  can  tell,  whom  all  our  thoughts  can- 
not fully  comprehend,  we  rejoice  in  all  Thy  goodness.   .    .    . 
We  thank  Thee  for  our  body,  this  handful  of  dust  so  run- 
no 


INTELLECTUAL  DIFFICULTIES         .  [V-6J 

ously  and  wonderfully  framed  together.  We  bless  Thee  for 
this  sparkle  of  Thy  fire  that  we  call  our  soul,  which  en- 
chants the  dust  into  thoughtful  human  life,  and  blesses  us 
with  so  rich  a  gift.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  varied  powers 
Thou  hast  given  us  here  on  earth.  We  bless  Thee  for  the 
far-reaching  mind,  which  puts  all  things  underneath  our  feet, 
rides  on  the 'winds  and  the  waters,  and  tames  the  lightning 
into  useful  service.  .  .  .  We  thank  Thee  for  this  conscience, 
whereby  face  to  face  we  commune  with  Thine  everlasting 
justice.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  strength  of  will  which  can 
overpower  the  weakness  of  mortal  flesh,  face  danger  and 
endure  hardship,  and  in  all  things  acquit  us  like  men.  .  .  . 

We  thank  Thee  for  this  religious  sense,  whereby  we  know 
Thee,  and,  amid  a  world  of  things  that  perish,  lay  fast  hold 
on  Thyself,  who  alone  art  steadfast,  without  beginning  of 
days  or  end  of  years,  forever  and  forever  still  the  same. 
We  thank  Thee  that  amid  all  the  darkness  of  time,  amid 
joys  that  deceive  us  and  pleasures  that  cheat,  amid  the  trans- 
gressions we  commit,  we  can  still  lift  up  our  hands  to  Thee, 
and  draw  near  Thee  with  our  heart,  and  Thou  blessest  us 
still  with  more  than  a  father's  or  a  mother's  never-ending 
love.  Amen. — Theodore  Parker. 

Fifth  Week,  Sixth  Day 

One  ground  of  assurance  concerning  faith  is  the  way  a 
sincere  fellowship  with  God  affects  life.  In  a  delicious  pas- 
sage of  his  autobiography,  Benjamin  Franklin  says,  "I  was 
scarce  fifteen,  when,  after  doubting  by  turns  of  several  points, 
as  I  found  them  disputed  in  the  different  books  I  read,  I 
began  to  doubt  of  Revelation  itself.  Some  books  against 
Deism  fell  into  my  hands ;  they  were  said  to  be  the  sub- 
stance of  sermons  preached  at  Boyle's  Lectures.  It  hap- 
pened that  they  wrought  an  effect  on  me  quite  contrary  to 
what  was  intended  by  them ;  for  the  arguments  of  the  Deists 
which  were  quoted  to  be  refuted,  appeared  to  me  much 
stronger  than  the  refutations ;  in  short  I  soon  became  a 
thorough  Deist.  My  arguments  perverted  some  others,  par- 
ticularly Collins  and  Ralph;  but,  each  of  them  having  after- 
wards wrong'd  me  greatly  without  the  least  compunction, 
and  recollecting  Keith's  conduct  towards  me  (who  was  an- 
other free  thinker),  and  my  own  towards  Vernon  and  Miss 

ill 


[V-6]  .  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

Read,  which  at  times  gave  me  great  trouble,  I  began  to 
suspect  that  this  doctrine,  tho'  it  might  be  true,  was  not  very 
useful."  Many  men,  not  yet  able  to  see  clearly  the  issue  of 
conflicting  arguments,  are  practically  convinced  in  favor  of 
faith  by  the  relative  effects  on  life  of  faith  and  unbelief. 
When  one  carries  this  thought  out  until  he  imagines  a  world 
where  no  one  any  more  believes  in  God,  he  feels  even  more 
emphatically  the  negative  results  of  unbelief.  As  Sir  James 
Stephen  said,  "We  cannot  judge  of  the  effects  of  Atheism 
from  the  conduct  of  persons  who  have  been  educated  as 
believers  in  God,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  nation  which  believes 
in  God.  If  we  should  ever  see  a  generation  of  men  to  whom 
the  word  God  has  no  meaning  at  all,  we  should  get  a  light 
on  the  subject  which  might  be  lurid  enough."  A  practical 
working  conviction  is  often  gained  in  religion,  as  in  every 
other  realm,  not  by  argument,  but  by  acting  on  a  principle 
until  it  verifies  itself  by  its  results,  or,  as  in  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin's case,  by  trying  a  negation  until  one  is  driven  from  it  by 
its  consequences. 

Beware  of  false  prophets,  who  come  to  you  in  sheep's 
clothing,  but  inwardly  are  ravening  wolves.  By  their 
fruits  ye  shall  know  them.  Do  men  gather  grapes  of 
thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles?  Even  so  every  good  tree 
bringeth  forth  good  fruit;  but  the  corrupt  tree  bringeth 
forth  evil  fruit.  A  good  tree  cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit, 
neither  can  a  corrupt  tree  bring  forth  good  fruit.  Every 
tree  that  bringeth  not  forth  good  fruit  is  hewn  down,  and 
cast  into  the  fire.  Therefore  by  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them. — Matt.  7:  15-20. 

O  God,  who  remainest  the  same  though  all  else  fades,  who 
changest  not  with  our  changing  moods,  who  leavest  us  not 
when  we  leave  Thee;  we  thank  Thee  that  when  we  lose 
faith  in  Thee,  soon  or  late  we  come  to  faith  in  something 
that  leads  us  back  again  with  firmer  trust  and  more  sincerity. 
Even  if  we  wander  into  the  far  country  we  take  ourselves 
with  us;  ourselves  who  are  set  towards  Thee  as  rivers  to 
the  sea.  If  we  turn  to  foolishness,  our  hearts  grow  faint 
and  weary,  our  path  is  set  with  thorns,  the  night  overtakes 
us,  and  we  find  we  have  strayed  from  light  and  life. 

Grant  to  us  clearer  vision  of  the  light  which  knows  no  shade 
of  turning,  that  we  stray  not  in  folly  away;  incline  our  hearts 

112 


INTELLECTUAL  DIFFICULTIES  [V-;] 

to  love  the  truth  alone,  so  that  we  miss  Thee  not  at  last; 
give  us  to  realize  of  what  spirit  we  are,  so  that  we  cleave  ever 
to  Thee,  who  alone  can  give  us  rest  and  joy.  Amen. — W.  E. 
Orchard. 

Fifth  Week,  Seventh  Day 

When  all  is  said  and  done  in  the  matter  of  intellectual 
assurance,  many  are  confused  by  the  seeming  lack  of  finality 
in  the  result.  After  all  these  ages  of  debate,  they  say,  see  all 
the  innumerable  opinions  of  jarring  sects  about  religious 
truth !  Evidently  there  is  no  satisfying  conclusion  obtainable 
at  all !  But  look  at  the  innumerable  schools  of  medicine — shall 
one  on  their  account  decide  that  health  is  a  fruitless  study? 
Consider  the  infinite  variety  of  taste  in  food — shall  we  say 
that  therefore  hunger  and  its  satisfaction  is  a  futile  question 
to  discuss?  Rather,  the  very  variety  of  the  answers  in  man's 
quest  reveals  the  importance  of  the  quest  itself.  Of  course 
proof  of  God  lacks  the  finality  of  a  scientific  demonstration, 
and  this  is  true  because  it  moves  in  a  realm  so  much  more 
important  than  anything  that  science  touches.  Exactness  and 
finality  are  possible  only  in  the  least  important  realms.  One 
can  measure  and  analyze  and  describe  to  a  minute  nicety  a 
table  which  a  carpenter  has  made,  but  when  one  turns  to 
the  carpenter  himself  and  endeavors  to  analyze  his  motives, 
weigh  his  thoughts,  estimate  his  quality,  and  prove  his  pur- 
poses, one  drops  minute  nicety  at  once.  The  carpenter  is  not  to 
be  put  into  a  column  of  figures  and  added  with  mathematical 
precision  as  his  table  is.  The  farther  up  one  moves  in  the 
scale  the  less  precise  and  undeniable  do  his  conclusions  be- 
come. So  science  is  exact  just  because  it  deals  with  meas- 
urable things ;  but  religion,  by  as  much  as  its  realm  is  more 
important,  can  less  easily  pack  its  conclusions  into  neat 
parcels  finally  tied  up  and  sealed.  A  man  who  will  not  believe 
anything  which  is  not  precisely  demonstrable  must  eliminate 
from  his  life  everything  except  what  yardsticks  can  measure 
and  scales  can  weigh.  Let  no  man  ever  give  up  the  fight  for 
faith  because  he  does  not  seem  at  once  to  be  reaching  an 
answer  which  he  can  neatly  formulate.  Let  him  remember 
Tolstoi,  writing  on  his  birthday:  "I  am  twenty-four,  and 
I  have  not  done  a  thing  yet.  But  I  feel  that  not  in  vain 
have  I  been  struggling  for  nearly  eight  years  against  doubt 


[V-7]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

and  temptation.     For  what  am  I  destined?     This  only  the 
future  will  disclose." 

Hear,  O  Jehovah,  when  I  cry  with  my  voice: 

Have  mercy  also  upon  me,  and  answer  me. 

When  thou  saidst,  Seek  ye  my  face;  my  heart  said  unto 

thee, 

Thy  face,  Jehovah,  will  I  seek. 
Hide  not  thy  face  from  me; 
Put  not  thy  servant  away  in  anger: 
Thou  hast  been  my  help; 
Cast   me   not   off,   neither   forsake   me,    O    God  of   my 

salvation. 

When  my  father  and  my  mother  forsake  me, 
Then  Jehovah  will  take  me  up. 
Teach  me  thy  way,  O  Jehovah; 
And  lead  me  in  a  plain  path, 
Because  of  mine  enemies. 

Deliver  me  not  over  unto  the  will  of  mine  adversaries: 
For  false  witnesses  are  risen  up  against  me, 
And  such  as  breathe  out  cruelty. 
I  had  fainted,  unless  I  had  believed  to  see  the  goodness  of 

Jehovah 

In  the  land  of  the  living. 
Wait  for  Jehovah: 

Be  strong,  and  let  thy  heart  take  courage; 
Yea,  wait  thou  for  Jehovah.  — Psalm  27:  7-14. 

Deliver  us,  our  Father,  from  all  those  mists  which  do  arise 
from  the  low  places  where  we  dwell,  which  rise  up  and  hide 
the  sun,  and  the  stars  even,  and  Thee.  Deliver  us  from  the 
narrowness  and  the  poverty  of  our  conceptions.  Deliver  us 
from  the  despotism  of  our  senses.  And  grant  unto  us  this 
morning,  the  effusion  of  Thy  Spirit,  which  shall  bring  us  into 
the  realm  of  spiritual  things,  so  that  we  may,  by  the  use  of 
all  that  which  is  divine  in  us,  rise  into  the  sphere  of  Thy 
thought,  into  the  realm  where  Thou  dwellest,  and  whither 
have  trooped  from  the  ages  the  spirits  of  just  men  now 
made  perfect.  Grant,  we  pray  Thee,  that  we  may  not  look 
with  time-eyes  upon  eternal  things,  measuring  and  dwarfing 
with  our  imperfcctness  the  fitness  and  beauty  of  things 
heavenly.  So  teach  us  to  come  into  Thy  presence  and  to  rise 
by  sympathy  into  Thy  way  of  thinking  and  feeling,  that  so 
much  as  we  can  discern  of  the  invisible  may  come  to  us 
aright.  Amen. — Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

114 


INTELLECTUAL  DIFFICULTIES  [V-c] 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 


While  it  is  true  that  in  many  cases  the  apparent  unreason- 
ableness of  Christian  faith  springs  from  the  underlying  un- 
reality of  Christian  life,  this  is  not  always  a  sufficient  diag- 
nosis of  doubt.  Horace  G.  Hutchinson,  the  English  golfer, 
who  spent  much  of  his  life  in  agnosticism  and  has  now  come 
over  into  Christian  faith,  thus  interprets  the  spirit  of  his  long 
unbelief :  "All  the  while  I  had  the  keenest  consciousness  of 
the  comfort  that  one  would  gain  could  he  but  believe  in  the 
truth  of  the  Christian  promises.  Surely  that  must  always  be 
the  agnostic's  mood.  .  .  .  It  is  not  that  they  wilfully  reject 
the  appeal  to  the  heart ;  their  will  is  eager  to  respond  to  it. 
But  man  has  his  gift  of  reason ;  it  cannot  be  that  he  is  not 
intended  to  use  it.  Least  of  all  can  it  be  part  of  the  great 
design  that  he  should  suspend  its  use  in  regard  to  the  most 
important  subject  to  which  his  thought  can  be  directed." 

Such  sincere  intellectual  difficulties  with  faith  must  be  met 
with  intellectual  arguments  and  not  with  moral  accusations. 
Plenty  of  folk  of  elevated  character  and  admirable  lives  grant, 
sometimes  impatiently,  that  the  Christian  faith  is  beautiful — 
but  is  it  so?  Is  not  its  solacing  power  a  deceptive  sleight  of 
hand,  by  which  our  pleasing  fancies  and  desires  are  made 
to  look  like  truth?  So  a  mirage  is  beautiful  to  weary  travel- 
ers, but  their  temporary  comfort  rests  on  fallacy.  McTaggart 
summed  up  one  of  the  most  wide-spread  and  masterful  desires  - 
of  this  generation  when  he  said,  "What  people  want  is  a  reli- 
gion they  can  believe  to  be  true." 

As  one  sets  himself  to  meet  faith's  intellectual  difficulties, 
the  attitude  in  which  he  is  to  approach  the  problem  is  all- 
important.  Samuel  M.  Crothers  tells  us  that  a  young  man 
once  left  with  him  a  manuscript  for  criticism,  and  remarked 
in  passing,  "It  is  only  a  little  bit  of  my  work,  and  it  will  not 
take  you  long  to  look  it  over.  In  fact  it  is  only  the  first 
chapter  in  which  I  explain  the  Universe."  When  one  out- 
grows this  cocksure  presumption  of  youth  and  gains  a  graver 
and  more  seasoned  mind,  he  leaves  behind  the  attempt  to 
pierce  to  creation's  last  secret.  He  sees  that  we  can  no  more 
neatly  and  finally  demonstrate  God  than  we  can  demonstrate 
any  of  life's  important  faiths. 


[V-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

Moreover  proof  of  God,  as  a  theorem  in  philosophy,  is  not  a 
deep  human  need.  Men  often  have  supposed  that  they  had 
such  demonstration,  but  human  experience  was  little  affected 
by  the  fact.  The  exhaustless  source  of  mankind's  desire  for 
assurance  about  God  is  not  theoretical  curiosity  but  vital  need, 
and  until  a  man  feels  the  need,  sees  how  urgently  man's  high- 
est life  reaches  out  toward  God,  he  never  will  make  much  of 
any  arguments.  Browning's  bishop  asks  his  friend : 

"Like  you  this  Christianity  or  not? 
It  may  be  false,  but  will  you  wish  it  true? 
Has  it  your  vote  to  be  so  if  it  can?" 

Until  a  man  gives  an  affirmative  answer  to  that  inquiry,  until 
he  possesses  a  life  that  itself  suggests  God  and  wants  him,  he 
is  not  likely  to  arrive  anywhere  by  argument  alone.  _ 

This  is  not  the  case  with  Christianity  only.  We  cannot 
prove  with  theoretical  finality  that  monogamy  is  the  form 
of  family  life  to  which  the  universe  is  best  adapted.  But 
mankind,  trying  many  experiments  with  family  life,  has  found 
in  the  monogamous  family  values  unique  and  indispensable. 
It  is  because  men  feel  the  value  of  such  a  love-bond,  that  they 
begin  to  argue  for  it.  And  their  argument,  when  one  sees 
deeply  into  it,  is  framed  after  this  fashion :  We  know  the 
worth  of  this  family-life  of  faithful  lovers.  We  want 
monogamy  and  we  propose  to  have  it.  We  do  not  pretend 
that  our  faith  in  monogamy,  as  the  form  of  marriage  best 
fitted  to  this  universe,  is  capable  of  exact  demonstration ;  but 
we  do  see  arguments  of  great  weight  in  favor  of  it  and  we 
do  not  see  any  convincing  arguments  against  it.  We  are 
persuaded  that  our  faith  has  reasonable  right  of  way;  and 
we  propose  to  go  on  believing  in  monogamy  and  practicing 
it  and  combating  its  enemies,  until  we  prove  our  case  in  the 
only  way  such  cases  ever  can  be  finally  proved,  by  the  issue 
of  the  matter  in  the  end. 

So  men  come  into  the  sort  of  personal  and  social  life  that 
Jesus  represents.  Apart  from  any  theories,  they  value  the  life 
itself — its  ideals  of  character,  friendship,  service,  trust.  If 
honesty  allows,  they  propose  to  live  that  life.  When  a  man 
has  gone  far  enough  in  Christian  experience,  so  that  he  comes 
up  to  his  intellectual  difficulties  by  such  a  road,  he  is  likely 
to  profit  by  a  consideration  of  the  reasons  in  favor  of 

116 


INTELLECTUAL  DIFFICULTIES  [V-c] 

faith.  He  is  in  the  attitude  of  saying :  I  have  found  great  liv- 
ing in  Christ.  No  argument  for  the  Christian  experience  can 
be  quite  so  convincing  as  the  Christian  experience  itself.  I 
am  bound  to  have  that  life  if  I  honestly  can,  and  I  will  search 
to  see  whether  there  is  any  insuperable  intellectual  difficulty 
in  the  way  of  it. 

II 

One  of  the  initial  perplexities  of  faith  concerns  the  sort  of 
intellectual  assurance  which  we  have  a  right  to  expect.  In  a 
laboratory  of  physics,  the  investigator  gathers  facts,  makes 
inductions  as  to  their  laws,  and  then  verifies  his  findings.  He 
uses  a  simplicity  of  procedure  and  gains  a  finality  of  result 
that  makes  all  other  knowledge  seem  relatively  insecure.  To 
be  sure,  the  scientist  may  seek  long  for  his  truth  and  make 
many  ineffectual  guesses  that  prove  false,  but,  in  the  end,  he 
reaches  a  conclusion  so  demonstrable  that  every  man  of  wit 
enough  to  investigate  the  subject  must  agree  that  it  is  so. 
How  the  Christian  wishes  for  such  certainty  concerning  God ! 

Before,  however,  any  one  surrenders  confidence  in  God,  be- 
cause confessedly  the  affirmations  of  religious  faith  cannot  be 
established  by  such  methods  as  a  physicist  employs,  there  is 
ample  reason  for  delay.  We  are  certain  that  heat  expands 
and  cold  contracts,  and  we  can  prove  the  fact  and  state  its 
laws.  But  are  we  not  also  sure  that  it  is  wrong  to  lie  and 
right  to  tell  the  truth?  This  conviction  about  truthfulness  at 
least  equals  in  theoretical  certainty  and  in  practical  right  to 
determine  conduct,  our  confidence  in  heat's  expanding  power. 
This  conviction  about  truthfulness  does  actually  sway  life 
more  than  does  any  single  scientific  truth  that  one  can  name. 
Let  us  then  set  ourselves  to  prove  our  moral  confidence  by 
such  methods  as  the  physical  laboratory  can  supply — with 
yard  sticks,  and  Troy  weight  scales,  and  test  tubes,  and 
meters !  At  once  it  is  evident  that  if  we  are  to  hold  only 
such  truth  as  is  amenable  to  the  demonstration  of  a  laboratory, 
we  must  bid  farewell  to  every  moral  conviction  that  hitherto 
has  influenced  our  lives.  God,  banished  because  the  physicist 
cannot  prove  him,  will  have  good  company  in.exile! 

Moreover,  all  our  esthetic  convictions  will  have  to  share 
that  banishment.  We  know  that  some  things  are  beautiful. 
The  consensus  of  the  race's  judgment  has  not  so  much  agreed 
to  accept  the  new  astronomy  as  it  has  agreed  to  think  sunrise 

117 


[V-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

glorious  and  snow-capped  mountains  wonderful.  Take  from 
our  lives  our  judgments  on  beauty,  so  that  we  may  call  no 
music  marvelous,  no  poetry  inspiring,  no  scenery  sublime, 
and  some  of  the  most  intimate  and  assured  convictions  we 
possess  will  have  to  go.  A  man  who  has  seen  the  Matterhorn 
at  dawn,  when  the  first  shaft  of  light  reaches  its  rocky  pin- 
nacle and  streams  down  in  glory  over  the  glaciers  that  cape 
its  shoulders,  will  not  disbelieve  the  splendor  of  the  scene, 
though  all  the  world  beside  unanimously  should  cry  that  it  is 
not  beautiful.  But  prove  it  by  the  methods  of  a  laboratory? 
When  the  geologist  has  analyzed  all  the  mountain's  rocks,  the 
chemist  all  its  minerals ;  when  the  astronomer  has  traced  the 
earth's  orbit  that  brings  on  the  dawn,  and  the  physicist  has 
counted  and  tabulated  the  rays  of  light  that  make  the  colors, 
our  conviction  of  the  scene's  beauty  will  be  as  little  explained 
or  proved  as  is  our  confidence  in  God.  It  becomes  clear  that 
some  convictions  which  we  both  do  and  must  hold  are  not 
amenable  to  the  sort  of  proof  which  a  scientific  laboratory 
furnishes. 

Moreover,  if  we  will  have  no  truth  beyond  the  reach  of  a 
physicist's  demonstration,  all  our  convictions  in  the  realm  of 
personal  relationship  will  have  to  go.  We  know  that  friend- 
ship-love is  the  crown  of  every  human  fellowship.  Father 
and  son,  mother  and  daughter,  brother  and  sister,  wife  and 
husband — these  relationships  are  in  themselves  bare  branches 
wanting  the  foliage  and  fruit  of  friendship.  Of  no  truth  is 
man  at  his  best  more  sure  than  he  is  that  "Life  is  just  our 
chance  o'  the  price  of  learning  love."  But  no  laboratory  ever 
can  deal  with  such  a  truth,  much  less  establish  it.  For  this 
is  the  neglected  insight,  for  the  want  of  which  our  religious 
confidence  is  needlessly  unstable :  Every  realm  of  reality  has 
its  own  appropriate  kind  of  proof,  and  a  method  of  proof 
available  in  one  realm  is  seldom,  if  ever,  usable  in  another. 
That  truthfulness  is  right  is  in  a  way  provable,  but  methods 
proper  to  the  moral  realm  must  be  allowed ;  that  the  Matter- 
horn  is  sublime  is  in  a  sense  provable,  but  by  methods  which 
the  esthetic  realm  permits ;  that  love  is  the  crown  of  life  can 
be  soundly  established,  but  one  must  employ  a  method  appro-, 
priate  to  personal  relationships.  If,  obsessed  by  the  pro- 
cedure of  a  laboratory  as  the  solitary  path  to  knowledge,  one 
will  have  no  convictions  which  cannot  meet  its  tests,  then  in 
good  logic  there  must  be  a  great  emigration  from  his  soul. 

118 


INTELLECTUAL  DIFFICULTIES  [V-c] 

All  his  convictions  about  morals  and  beauty,  all  his  convic- 
tions about  personal  friendships  and  about  God  must  leave 
together.  He  will  have  a  depopulated  spirit.  No  man  could 
live  on  such  terms  for  a  single  hour.  The  most  essential  and 
valuable  equipment  of  our  souls  is  in  convictions  which  the 
demonstrations  of  a  physicist  can  as  little  reach  as  an  inch 
worm,  clambering  up  the  Himalayas,  can  measure  the  distance 
to  the  sun. 

Ill 

A  man  to  whom  the  Christian  life  has  come  to  be  preemi- 
nently valuable,  and  who  is  asking  whether  it  is  intellectually 
justifiable,  is  set  free,  by  such  considerations  as  we  just  have 
noted,  to  seek  assurance  where  religious  assurance  may  prop- 
erly be  found.  For  one  thing,  he  may  find  help  by  trying  out 
the  creed  of  no-God.  Many  a  man  is  a  wavering  believer, 
makes  little  excursions  into  doubt  and  returns  hesitant  and 
unhappy,  because  he  never  has  dared  to  see  his  doubts  through 
to  their  logical  conclusion  and  to  face  the  world  with  God 
eliminated. 

One  may  sense  the  general  atmosphere  of  the  world,  under 
the  no-God  hypothesis,  by  saying,  In  all  this  universe  there 
is  no  mind  essentially  greater  than  mine.  The  import  of  such 
a  statement  grows  weightier  the  more  one  ponders  it.  All 
human  minds  are  infinitesimal  in  knowledge ;  endless  realities 
must  lie  beyond  our  reach ;  "our  science  is  a  drop,  our  ignor- 
ance a  sea."  Yet  human  knowledge  is  all  that  anywhere  exists, 
if  the  no-God  hypothesis  is  true.  There  is  no  knower  who 
knows  more,  and  the  infinite  reality  beyond  our  grasp  is  not 
known  by  any  mind  at  all.  No  one  ever  thought  it  or  will 
think  it  through  eternity.  Then,  let  a  man  add,  In  all  this 
universe  there  is  no  goodness  essentially  greater  than  mine. 
Human  goodness  is  pitiably  partial ;  it  is  but  prophecy  of  what 
goodness  ought  to  mean ;  "Man  is  a  dwarf  of  himself,"  as 
Emerson  said.  But  human  goodness  is  all  that  anywhere 
exists,  if  the  no-God  hypothesis  is  true.  There  never  will  be 
any  better  goodness  anywhere,  and  when  the  earth  comes  to 
its  end  in  a  solar  catastrophe,  there  will  be  no  goodness  left 
at  all.  Certainly  the  hypothesis  of  no-God  raises  more  ques- 
tions than  it  easily  can  quell. 

Indeed  the  Christian,  long  accused  by  unbelieving  friends  of 
gross  credulity  because  he  holds  his  creed,  may  well  leave  his 

119 


[V-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

defense  and  "go  over  the  top"  in  an  offensive  charge.  If  it 
is  a  question  of  holding  creeds,  unbelief  is  a  creed  as  certainly 
as  belief  is ;  it  says,  I  believe  that  there  is  no  God  or  that 
God  cannot  be  known.  If  it  is  a  question  of  credulity,  the 
Christian  suspects  that  of  all  the  different  kinds  of  credulous- 
ness  which  the  world  has  seen,  nothing  ever  has  surpassed 
the  capacity  of  modern  sceptics  to  accept  impossible  beliefs. 
He  who  says,  I  believe  that  there  is  no  God,  nor  anything 
which  that  name  might  reasonably  connote,  is  saying,  I  believe 
that  the  fundamental  reality  everywhere  is  physical.  Long 
ages  ago  atoms,  electrons,  "mobile  cosmic  ethers"  began  their 
mysterious  organization,  whose  present  issue  is  planetary 
orbits,  rocks,  organic  life,  and,  highest  point  of  all,  the  brain 
of  man.  Man's  mind  is  but  the  moving  shadow  cast  by  the 
activity  of  brain.  Man's  character  is  the  subtle  fragrance  of 
his  nerves.  Everywhere,  if  the  no-God  hypothesis  be  true, 
spirit  is  a  result,  physical  energy  the  cause. 

Some  startling  corollaries  follow  such  a  view.  No  man 
can  be  blamed  for  anything.  Molecular  action  in  the  brain  is 
responsible  alike  for  saints  and  sinners,  and  we  are  as  power- 
less to  change  our  quality  of  character  or  action  as  a  planet  is 
to  change  its  course.  Judas  and  Jesus,  Festus  and  Paul,  the 
Belgian  lads  and  the  Prussian  officers  who  mutilated  them, 
the  raper  and  the  raped — why  blame  the  one  or  praise  the 
other  when  all  characters  alike  are  ground  from  a  physical 
machine,  whose  action  is  predetermined  by  the  push  of  uni- 
versal energy  behind  ?  One  man  even  says  that  to  condemn  an 
immoral  deed  is  like  Xerxes  whipping  the  Hellespont — pun- 
ishment visited  on  physical  necessity  which  is  not  to  blame. 

The  second  corollary  is  not  less  startling:  every  man  thinks 
as  he  does  because  of  molecular  action  in  the  brain.  A  Chris- 
tian believes  in  God  because  his  molecules  maneuver  so,  and 
his  opponent  is  an  atheist  because  his  molecules  maneuver 
otherwise,  and  all  convictions  of  truth,  however  well  debated 
and  reasoned  out,  are  fundamentally  the  work  of  atoms,  not 
of  mind.  What  we  call  intellect  as  little  causes  anything  as 
steam  from  a  kettle  causes  the  boiling  out  of  which  it  comes. 
Some  brains  boil  Socialism,  some  do  not ;  some  brains  boil 
Episcopalianism  and  some  Christian  Science.  A  determinist 
and  a  believer  in  freewill  differ  as  do  oaks  and  elm  trees,  for 
physical  reasons  only,  and  folk  are  Catholic  in  southern 
Europe — so  we  are  informed — because  their  skulls  are  nar- 

120 


INTELLECTUAL  DIFFICULTIES  [V-cJ 

row.  and  in  northern  Europe  Protestants  because  their  skulls 
are  broad.  Truth  is  a  nickname  for  a  neurosis.  The  standing 
marvel  is  that  on  some  matters  like  the  multiplication  table 
our  brains  boil  so  unanimously. 

A  third  corollary  still  remains:  we  have  no  creative  power 
of  mind  and  will.  All  that  is  and  is  to  be  was  wound  up  in 
primeval  matter,  and  now  in  our  thoughts  and  actions  is  tick- 
ing like  a  clock.  "All  of  our  philosophy,"  says  Huxley,  "all  our 
poetry,  all  our  science,  and  all  our  art — Plato,  Shakespeare, 
Newton,  and  Raphael — are  potential  in  the  fires  of  the  sun." 
That  is  to  say,  Plato  had  nothing  to  do  with  creating  his 
philosophy,  nor  Shakespeare  with  writing  plays — they  were 
empty  megaphones  and  the  real  voice  is  the  physical  machine 
from  which  all  things  come.  Professor  Bowne  of  Boston 
University,  after  the  publication  of  his  "Metaphysics,"  received 
from  a  physicist  a  protest  against  his  emphasis  on  the  reality 
of  mind.  The  professor  of  physics  insisted  that  the  only 
fundamental  reality  was  physical  and  that  mind  is  always  a 
result  of  brain's  activity  and  never  a  cause  of  anything.  To 
this  Professor  Bowne  replied  that  according  to  the  writer's 
own  theory,  as  he  understood  it,  the  letter  of  protest  was  the 
result  of  certain- physical  forces  issuing  in  nervous  excitations 
that  made  scratches  on  paper,  and  that  the  writer's  mind  had 
nothing  effectual  to  do  with  its  composition.  This,  said  Pro- 
fessor Bowne,  might  be  a  plausible  explanation  of  the  letter, 
but  he  was  unwilling  to  apply  it  to  the  universe.  What 
wonder  that  the  physicist  acknowledged  to  a  friend  that  the 
retort  nettled  him,  for  he  did  not  see  just  how  to  answer  it? 

IV 

One's  discontent  with  this  reduction  of  our  lives  to  physical 
causation  is  increased  when  he  studies  the  mental  process  by 
which  men  reach  it.  It  is  as  if  a  man  should  perceive  in  the 
works  of  Shakespeare  insight  and  beauty,  pathos  and  laughter, 
despair  and  hope,  and  should  set  himself  to  explain  all  these 
as  the  function  of  the  type.  How  plausibly  he  could  do  it! 
If  one  takes  Shakespeare's  sentences  full  of  spiritual  meaning 
he  can  readily  resolve  them  into  twenty-six  constituent  letters 
of  the  alphabet,  and  these  into  certain  hooks  and  dashes,  and 
these  into  arithmetical  points  diffused  in  space.  Starting 
with  such  abstract  points,  let  one  suppose  that  some  fortunate 

121 


[V-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

day  they  arranged  themselves  into  hooks  and  dashes,  and  these 
into  letters  of  the  alphabet,  and  these  by  fortuitous"  con- 
course came  together  into  sentences.  Reading  them  we  think 
we  see  deep  spiritual  meaning,  but  they  are  all  the  work  of 
type ;  the  fundamental  reality  is  arithmetical  points  diffused 
in  space.  Such  is  the  process  by  which  a  man  reduces  the 
mental  and  moral  life  of  man  back  to  its  physical  basis ;  then 
breaks  up  the  physical  basis  into  atoms ;  then,  starting  with 
these  abstractions,  builds  up  again  the  whole  world  which  he 
just  has  analyzed,  and  thinks  he  has  explained  the  infinitely 
significant  spiritual  life  of  man.  Not  for  a  long  time  will  we 
accept  such  a  method  of  explaining  the  works  of  Shakespeare ! 
Nor  can  man  contentedly  be  made  to  follow  so  inconsequential 
a  process  of  thought  as  that  by  which  the  mind  and  character 
of  Jesus  are  reduced  to  a  maneuver  of  molecules. 

The  attractiveness  of  this  explanation  of  the  universe  as  a 
huge  physical  machine  is  easily  understood.  It  presents  a 
simple  picture,  readily  grasped.  It  packs  the  whole  explana- 
tion of  the  world  into  a  neat  parcel,  portable  by  any  mind. 
In  the  days  of  monarchy  the  government  of  the  universe  was 
pictured  in  terms  of  an  absolute  sovereign ;  in  feudal  times 
the  divine  economy  was  pictured  as  a  gigantic  feudalism ; 
we  always  use  a  dominant  factor  in  the  life  of  man  to  help 
us  picture  the  eternal.  So  in  the  age  whose  builder  and  maker 
is  machinery  we  easily  portray  the  universe  as  a  huge  ma- 
chine. The  process  is  simple  and  natural,  but  to  suppose  that 
it  is  adequate  is  preposterous.  Lord  Kelvin,  the  chemist,  knew 
thoroughly  the  mechanistic  idea  of  the  world.  He  felt  the 
fascination  of  it,  for  he  said  at  Johns  Hopkins  University,  "I 
never  satisfy  myself  until  I  make  a  mechanical  model  of  a 
thing.  If  I  can  make  a  mechanical  model  I  can  understand 
it.  As  long  as  I  cannot  make  a  mechanical  model  all  the  way 
through,  I  cannot  understand."  But  Lord  Kelvin  knew  better 
than  to  suppose  that  this  figure  comprehended  all  of  reality. 
"The  atheistic  idea,"  said  he,  "is  so  nonsensical,  that  I  do 
not  know  how  to  put  it  into  words." 

The  rejection  of  the  no-God  hypothesis  does  not  necessarily 
imply  that  a  man  becomes  fully  Christian  in  his  thought  of 
deity.  There  are  way-stations  between  no-God  and  Jesus' 
Father.  But  it  does  mean  that  to  him  reality  must  be  funda- 
mentplly  spiritual,  not  physical.  What  other  hypothesis  pos- 
sibly can  fit  the  facts?  For  consider  the  view  of  a  growing 

122 


INTELLECTUAL  DIFFICULTIES  [V-c] 

universe  which  we  see  from  the  outlook  that  modern  science 
furnishes.  Out  of  a  primeval  chaos  where  physical  forces 
snarled  at  each  other  in  unrelieved  antagonism,  where  no  man 
had  yet  arisen  to  love  truth  and  serve  righteousness,  some- 
thing has  brought  us  to  a  time,  when  for  all  our  evil,  there 
are  mothers  and  music  and  the  laughter  of  children  at  play, 
men  who  love  honor  and  for  service'  sake  lay  down  their  lives, 
and  homes  in  every  obscure  street  where  fortitude  and  sacri- 
fice are  splendidly  exhibited.  Out  of  a  chaos,  where  a  con- 
temporary observer,  could  there  have  been  one,  would  have 
seen  no  slightest  promise  of  spirit,  something  has  brought  us 
to  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  to 
great  character  and  growing  achievements  in  social  righteous- 
ness, to  lofty  thoughts  of  the  Divine  and  hopes  of  life  eternal. 
Something  has  been  at  work  here  besides  matter.  No 
explanation  of  all  this  will  do,  without  God. 


Another  source  of  confirmation  for  the  man  who,  valuing 
Christian  experience,  seeks  assurance  that  it  is  intellectually 
justifiable,  is  to  be  found  in  the  effect  of  Christian  faith  on 
life  itself.  The  nautical  tables  can  be  proved  by  an  astro- 
nomer in  his  observatory ;  but  if  they  are  given  to  a  sailor»and 
he  beats  about  the  seas  with  them  in  safety,  finding  that  they 
make  adventurous  voyages  practicable,  that  also  would  be 
important  witness  to  their  truth.  So  the  Christian  ideas  of 
life  have  not  been  kept  by  studious  recluses  to  ponder  over 
and  weave  philosophies  about;  they  have  been  down  in  the 
market  place,  men  have  been  practically  trying  them  for 
generations,  and  they  make  great  living. 

The  ultimate  ground  of  practical  assurance  about  anything 
is  that  we  have  tried  it  and  that  it  works.  A  man  may  have 
experience  that  other  persons  exist,  may  draw  the  inference 
that  friendly  relations  with  them  are  not  impossible,  but  only 
when  he  launches  out  and  verifies  his  thought  in  an  ad- 
venture will  he  really  be  convinced  of  friendship's  glory.  In 
no  other  way  has  final  assurance  about  God  come  home  to 
man.  They  who  have  lived  as  though  God  were  have  been 
convinced  that  he  is;  they  who  have  willed  to  do  his  will  have 
known. 

That  religious  faith  does  justify  itself  in  life  is  a  fact  to 
123 


IV-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

which  mankind's  experience  amply  testifies.  Men  have  come 
to  God,  not  as  chemists  to  bread  curious  to  analyze  it ;  they 
have  come  as  hungry  men,  needing  to  eat  if  they  would  live. 
And  they  have  found  life  glorified  by  faith  in  him.  The  dif- 
ference between  religion  and  irreligion  here  is  plain.  How 
seldom  one  finds  enthusiastic  unbelievers!  When  all  that  is 
fine  spirited  and  resolute  in  agnostic  literature  is  duly  weighed 
and  credited,  the  pessimistic  undertone  is  always  heard. 
Leslie  Stephen  thus  summarizes  life — "There  is  a  deep  sad- 
ness in  the  world.  Turn  and  twist  the  thought  as  you  may 
there  is  no  escape.  Optimism  would  be  soothing  if  it  were 
possible;  in  fact,  it  is  impossible,  and  therefore  a  constant 
mockery."  No  gospel  burns  in  the  unbeliever's  mind,  urgent 
for  utterance ;  he  has  no  inspiring  outlooks  to  offer,  no  glad 
tidings  to  declare.  The  more  intelligent  he  is  the  more  plainly 
he  sees  this.  With  Clifford  he  laments  that  "the  spring  sun 
shines  out  of  an  empty  heaven  to  light  up  a  soulless  earth" 
and  feels  "with  utter  loneliness  that  the  Great  Companion  is 
dead" ;  with  Romanes  he  frankly  states,  "So  far  as  the  ruina- 
tion of  individual  happiness  is  concerned,  no  one  can  have  a 
more  lively  conception  than  myself  of  the  possibly  disastrous 
tendency  of  my  work."  An  unbeliever  whose  admirable  life 
raised  the  question  as  to  the  philosophy  by  which  he  guided 
it,  gave  this  summary  of  his  creed,  "I  am  making  the  best  of  a 
bad  mess."  Unbelievers  do  not  spontaneously  utter  in  song 
the  glory  of  a  creed  like  this,  and  when  they  do  write  poetry, 
it  is  of  a  sort  that  music  will  not  fit — 

"The  world  rolls  round  forever  like  a  mill, 
It  grinds  out  death  and  life  and  good  and  ill, 
It  has  no  purpose,  heart,  or  mind  or  will." 

When  from  poetry  one  turns  to  philosophy,  he  can  see  good 
reasons  why  hymnals  and  unbelief  should  be  uncongenial. 
There  is  little  to  make  life  worth  while  in  a  creed  which  holds 
as  Haeckel  does  that  morality  in  man,  like  the  tail  of  a 
monkey  or  the  shell  of  a  tortoise,  is  purely  a  physiological 
effect,  and  that  man  himself  is  "an  affair  of  chance ;  the  froth 
and  fume  at  the  wave-top  of  a  sterile  ocean  of  matter." 
Shall  the  practical  unserviceableness  of  such  an  idea  for  the 
purpose  of  life,  awaken  no  suspicion  as  to  its  truth? 

Upon  the  other  hand,  suppose  that  by  some  strange  chance 
124 


INTELLECTUAL  DIFFICULTIES  [V-c] 

the  principles  of  Jesus  should  over  night  take  possession  of 
mankind.  Even  as  it  is,  when  one  starts  his  thought  with  the 
Stone  Age,  the  progress  of  mankind  has  obviously  been 
immense.  From  universal  cannibalism  after  a  battle,  to  mas- 
sacre without  cannibalism  marked  one  great  advance;  from 
massacre  of  all  prisoners  taken  in  war  to  enslavement  of  them 
marked  another ;  and  when  slavery  ceased  being  a  philan- 
thropic improvement,  as  it  was  at  first,  and  became  a  sin 
and  shame,  humanity  took  another  long  step  forward.  With 
all  our  present  barbarity,  a  far  look  backwards  shows  a  clear 
ascent.  As  for  the  influence  of  Jesus,  Lecky,  the  historian, 
tells  us  that  "The  simple  record  of  three  short  years  of 
Christ's  active  life  has  done  more  to  regenerate  and  soften 
mankind  than  all  the  disquisitions  of  philosophers  and  all 
the  exhortations  of  moralists."  What  if  this  process  were 
brought  to  its  fulfilment  between  sunset  and  dawn,  and  the 
new  day  came  with  every  one  sure  of  God's  fatherhood  and 
life  eternal,  of  the  law  of  love  and  the  supremacy  of  char- 
acter and  with  everyone  living  as  though  these  were  true? 
Whatever  intellectual  perplexities  of  belief  a  man  may  have, 
he  knows  that  such  a  world  would  be  divinely  great.  No 
war,  no  evil  lust,  no  covetous  selfishness,  no  drunkenness ! 
Mankind,  relieved  of  ancient  burdens  which  have  ruined  char- 
acter and  crushed  endeavor,  confident  of  faiths  that  give  life 
infinite  horizons  and  deathless  hopes,  in  cooperative  interna- 
tional fraternity  would  be  making  the  earth  a  decent  home 
for  God  to  rear  his  children  in.  One  finds  it  hard  to  believe 
that  ideas  which,  incarnate  in  life,  would  so  redeem  the  world 
are  false. 

As  to  the  effect  of  the  Christian  affirmations  on  individual 
character,  we  do  not  need  to  picture  an  imagined  future.  A 
Character  has  been  here  who  has  lived  them  out.  A  jury  of 
philosophers  might  analyze  the  wood-work  and  the  metals  of 
an  organ,  and  guess  from  form  and  material  what  it  is,  but 
we  still  should  need  for  our  assurance  a  musician.  When  he 
sweeps  the  keys  in  harmony  we  know  that  it  is  an  organ.  So 
when  the  philosophers  have  debated  the  pros  and  cons  of 
argument  concerning  faith,  Jesus  plays  the  Gospel.  His  life 
is  the  Christian  affirmations  done  into  character.  When  reli- 
gious faith,  at  its  best,  is  incarnate  in  a  Man,  this  is  the  con- 
sequence. And  multitudes  of  folk,  living  out  the  implica- 
tions of  the  faith,  have  found  the  likeness  of  the  Master  grow- 

125 


[V-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

ing  in  them.  Weighty  confirmation  of  the  Gospel's  truth 
arrives  when  its  meaning  is  translated  into  life ;  the  world 
will  not  soon  reject  the  New  Testament  in  this  edition — bound 
in  a  Man. 

To  one  in  perplexity  about  belief,  this  proper  question  there- 
fore rises:  What  do  we  think  about  the  Christlike  character? 
Is  it  not  life  at  its  sublimest  elevation?  But  to  acknowledge 
that  and  yet  to  deny  the  central  faiths  by  which  such  life  is 
lived  is  to  say  that  those  ideas  which,  incarnate,  make  living 
great  are  false,  and  those  ideas  which  leave  life  meager  of 
motive  and  bereft  of  hope  are  true.  No  one  lives  on  such 
a  basis  in  any  other  realm.  We  always  mistrust  the  validity 
of  any  idea  which  works  poorly  or  not  at  all.  And  so  far 
from  being  a  practical  makeshift,  this  "negative  pragmatism" 
is  a  true  principle  of  knowledge.  Says  Professor  Hocking,  of 
Harvard,  "If  a  theory  has  no  consequences,  or  bad  ones ;  if 
it  makes  no  difference  to  men,  or  else  undesirable  differences ; 
if  it  lowers  the  capacity  of  men  to  meet  the  stress  of  existence, 
or  diminishes  the  worth  to  them  of  what  existence  they  have; 
such  a  theory  is  somehow  false,  and  we  have  no  peace  until 
it  is  remedied."  The  last  word  against  irreligion  is  that  it 
makes  life  unlivable;  the  last  word  for  faith  is  that  it  makes 
life  glorious. 

VI 

One  who  is  facing  intellectual  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
faith  may  well  consider  that  the  very  Christian  life  for  whose 
possession  he  is  seeking  justification  is  itself  an  argument  of 
the  first  importance.  This  life  grew  up  in  the  universe;  it 
is  one  expression  of  the  universe;  and  it  is  hard  to  think  that 
it  does  not  reveal  a  nature  kindred  to  itself  in  the  source 
from  which  it  came. 

Mankind  has  always  experienced  a  relationship  with  the 
(  Unseen  which  has  seemed  like  communion  of  soul  with 
\  Soul.  When  a  psychologist  like  Professor  James,  of  Har- 
vard, reduces  to  its  most  general  terms  this  religious  Fact 
which  has  been  practically  universal  in  the  race,  he  puts  it 
thus :  "Man  becomes  conscious  that  this  higher  part  (his  spir- 
itual life)  is  coterminous  and  continuous  with  a  MORE  of 
the  same  quality,  which  is  operative  in  the  universe  outside  of 
him,  and  which  he  can  keep  in  working  touch  with,  and  in  a 
fashion  get  on  board  of  and  save  himself  when  all  his  lower 

126 


INTELLECTUAL  DIFFICULTIES  [V-c] 

being  has  gone  to  pieces  in  the  wreck."  No  experience  of  man 
is  more  common  in  occurrence,  more  tremendous  in  result 
than  this.  From  the  mystics  whose  vivid  sense  of  God  can- 
celed their  consciousness  that  anything  else  was  real,  to  plain 
folk  who  in  the  strength  of  the  divine  alliance  have  lived 
ordinary  lives  with  extraordinary  spirit,  mankind  as  a  whole 
has  known  that  the  best  in  man  is  in  contact  with  a  MORE. 

One  does  not  need  to  be  of  a  mystical  temperament,  given 
to  raptures,  to  know  what  this  means.  Let  him  consider  his 
own  experience  of  love  and  duty,  how  he  is  bound  by  them  to 
his  ideals  and  woven  into  a  community  of  personal  life  not 
only  with  his  friends  but  with  all  humanity,  until  this  spirit- 
ual life  of  his  becomes  the  most  august  and  commanding 
power  he  knows.  When  in  our  bodies  we  so  discern  a  physical 
nature,  whose  laws  and  necessities  we  did  not  create,  and 
whose  power  binds  us  into  a  community  of  need  and  labor 
with  our  fellows,  our  conclusion  is  confident.  This  experience 
is  the  basis  of  our  assurance  that  a  physical  universe  is  really 
here.  When,  likewise  in  our  inner  selves  we  find  a  spiritual 
life,  which  man  did  not  create,  in  obedience  to  which  alone  is 
safety,  and  peace,  and  power,  what  shall  we  conclude?  That 
there  is  a  spiritual  universe  as  plainly  evidenced  in  man's  soul 
as  the  physical  universe  is  in  the  body !  And  when  we  note  the 
attributes  of  this  Spiritual  Order,  how  it  demands  righteous- 
ness, rebukes  sin,  welcomes  obedience  and  holds  out  ideals  of 
endless  possibility,  it  is  plain  that  we  are  talking  about  some- 
thing close  of  kin  to  God.  As  in  summer  we  beat  out  through 
some  familiar  bay,  naming  the  headlands  as-  we  sail,  until  if 
we  go  far  enough,  we  cannot  prevent  our  eyes  from  looking 
out  across  the  unbounded  sea,  so  if  a  man  moves  out  through 
his  own  familiar  spiritual  life  far  enough,  he  comes  to  the 
Spiritual  Order  which  is  God.  Man  has  not  drifted  into  his 
religion  by  accident  or  fallen  on  it  merely  as  superstition ; 
he  has  moved  out  from  his  inner  life,  to  affirm  a  Spiritual 
Order  as  inevitably  as  he  has  moved  out  from  his  bodily  expe- 
riences to  affirm  a  physical  universe* 

When  from  this  general  experience  we  turn  to  the  specific 
experiences  of  religion,  which  prayer  and  worship  represent, 
the  testimony  of  the  race  is  confident.  Men  have  not  all  these 
ages  been  lifting  up  their  souls  to  an  unreality  from  which 
no  response  has  come.  The  artesian  well  of  transforming 
influence  in  human  souls  has  not  flowed  from  Nowhere. 

127 


[V-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

Some,  indeed,  hearing  confidence  in  God  founded  on  the  indi- 
vidual experiences  of  man,  derisively  cry  "Nonsense!"  But 
if  one  were  to  prove  that  the  Sistine  Madonna  is  beautiful, 
he  would  have  to  offer  his  experience  in  evidence.  "I  went 
to  Dresden,"  he  might  say,  "up  into  the  room  where  the  Ma- 
donna hangs  .  .  .  and  it  is  beautiful.  I  saw  it."  Met  with 
derision  by  a  doubter,  as  though  his  experience  were  no  proof 
at  all,  how  shall  he  proceed?  "I  am  .not  the  only  one,"  he 
might  continue,  "who  has  perceived  its  beauty.  All  these  cen- 
turies the  folk  best  qualified  to  judge  have  gone  up  into  that 
room  and  have  come  down  again,  sure  that  Raphael's  work  is 
beautiful."  Is  anyone  in  a  position  to  deride  that?  So 
through  all  ages  men  and  women,  from  lowest  savages  to  the 
race's  spiritual  kings  and  queens,  have  gone  up  to  the  Divine, 
and,  at  their  best,  from  experiences  of  prayer,  worship,  for- 
given sins,  transfigured  lives,  have  come  down  sure  that  Real- 
ity is  there.  One  may  not  call  nonsense  tlie  most  universal 
and  influential  experience  of  the  human  race! 

The  force  of  this  fact  is  more  clearly  seen  when  one  con- 
siders that  man  has  grown  up  in  this  universe,  gradually  de- 
veloping his  powers  and  functions  as  responses  to  his  environ- 
ment. If  he  has  eyes,  so  the  biologists  assure  us,  it  is  be- 
cause the  light  waves  played  upon  the  skin  and  eyes  came  out 
in  answer;  if  he  has  ears  it  is  because  the  air  waves  were 
there  first  and  ears  came  out  to  hear.  Man  never  yet,  accord- 
ing to  the  evolutionist,  has  developed  any  power  save  as  a 
reality  called  it  into  being.  There  would  be  no  fins  if  there 
were  no  water,  no  wings  if  there  were  no  air,  no  legs  if  there 
were  no  land.  Always  the  developing  organism  has  been 
trying  to  "catch  up  with  its  environment."  Yet  some  would 
tell  us  that  man's  noblest  power  of  all  has  developed  in  a 
vacuum.  They  would  say  that  his  capacity  to  deal  with  a  Spir- 
itual World,  to  believe  in  God,  and  in  prayer  to  experience 
fellowship  with  him,  has  all  grown  up  with  no  Reality  to  call 
it  into  being.  If  so,  it  stands  alone  in  man's  experience,  the 
only  function  of  his  life  that  grew  without  an  originating 
Fact  to  call  it  forth.  It  does  not  seem  reasonable  to  think 
that.  The  evidence  of  man's  experience  is  overwhelmingly 
in  favor  of  a  Reality  to  which  his  spirit  has  been  trying  to 
answer.  Said  Max  Miiller,  "To  the  philosopher  the  existence 
of  God  may  seem  to  rest  on  a  syllogism ;  in  the  eyes  of  the 
historian  it  rests  on  the  whole  evolution  of  human  thought." 

128 


CHAPTER  VI 

Faith's  Greatest  Obstacle 

DAILY  READINGS 

The  speculative  doubts  leave  many  minds  untouched,  but 
one  universal  human  experience  sooner  or  later  faces  every 
serious  life  with  questions  about  God's  goodness.  We  all 
meet  trouble,  in  ourselves  or  others,  and  oftentimes  the 
wonder  why  in  God's  world  such  calamities  should  fall,  such 
wretchedness  should  continually  exist,  plunges  faith  into  per- 
plexity. Few  folk  of  mature  years  can  fail  to  understand 
Edwin  Booth  when  he  wrote  to  a  friend,  "Life  is  a  great 
big  spelling  book,  and  on  every  page  we  turn  the  words  grow 
harder  to  understand  the  meaning  of."  Now,  the  basis  of  any 
intelligent  explanation  of  faith's  problem  must  rest  in  a 
right  practical  attitude  toward  trouble.  To  the  consideration 
of  that  we  turn  in  the  daily  readings. 

Sixth  Week,  First  Day 

Beloved,  think  it  not  strange  concerning  the  fiery  trial 
among  you,  which  cometh  upon  you  to  prove  you,  as 
though  a  strange  thing  happened  unto  you:  but  insomuch 
as  ye  are  partakers  of  Christ's  sufferings,  rejoice;  that 
at  the  revelation  of  his  glory  also  ye  may  rejoice  with 
exceeding  joy.  If  ye  are  reproached  for  the  name  of 
Christ,  blessed  are  ye;  because  the  Spirit  of  glory  and  the 
Spirit  of  God  resteth  upon  you.  For  let  none  of  you 
suffer  as  a  murderer,  or  a  thief,  or  an  evil-doer,  or  as  a 
meddler  in  other  men's  matters:  but  if  a  man  suffer  as  a 
Christian,  let  him  not  be  ashamed;  but  let  him  glorify 
God  in  this  name.  .  .  .  Wherefore  let  them  also  that 
suffer  according  to  the  will  of  God  commit  their  souls  in 
well-doing  unto  a  faithful  Creator. — I  Pet.  4:  12-16,  19. 

Such  an  attitude  toward  trouble  as  Peter  here  recommends 
is  the  most  wholesome  and  hopeful  possible  to  man.  And  it 
is  reasonable  too,  if  only  on  the  ground  that  trouble  develops 

129 


[VI-i]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

in  men  the  essential  qualities  of  strong  character.  Our  high- 
est admiration  is  always  reserved  for  men  who  master  diffi- 
cult crises.  If  the  story  of  Joseph,  begun  beside  Bedouin 
camp  fires  centuries  ago,  can  easily  be  naturalized  beside 
modern  radiators ;  if  Robinson  Crusoe,  translated  into  every 
tongue  is  understood  by  all,  the  reason  lies  in  the  depth  of 
man's  heart,  where  to  make  the  most  out  of  untoward  situa- 
tions is  a  daily  problem.  Not  every  one  can  grasp  the  argu- 
ment or  perceive  the  beauty  of  "Paradise  Lost"  and  "Para- 
dise Regained,"  but  one  thing  about  them  every  man  appreci- 
ates— the  blind  Milton,  sitting  down  to  write  them : 

"I  argue  not 

Against  Heaven's  hand  or  will,  nor  bate  a  jot 
Of  heart  or  hope ;  but  still  bear  up  and  steer 
Right  onward." 

The  full  understanding  of  Ole  Bull's  playing  on  the  violin 
was  necessarily  restricted  to  the  musical,  but  no  restriction 
bounds  the  admiration  of  men,  learned  or  simple,  when  in  a 
Munich  concert,  his  A  string  snaps  and  he  finishes  the  com- 
position on  three  strings.  That  is  the  human  problem  in 
epitome.  Getting  music  out  of  life's  remainders  after  the 
/  break  has  come;  winning  the  battle  with  what  is  left  from 
a  defeat;  going  blind,  like  Milton,  and  writing  sublimest 
poetry,  or  deaf,  like  Beethoven,  and  composing  superb  son- 
atas ;  being  reared  in  an  almshouse  and  buried  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  like  Henry  M.  Stanley;  or,  like  Kernahan,  born  with- 
out arms  or  legs  and  yet  sitting  at  last  in  the  British  Parlia- 
ment— all  such  hardihood  and  undiscourageable  pluck  reach 
back  in  a  man's  bosom  beyond  the  strings  that  ease  and  luxury 
can  touch,  and  strike  there  an  iron,  reverberating  chord. 
Nothing  in  human  life  is  so  impressive  as  pluck,  "fighting 
with  the  scabbard  after  the  sword  is  gone."  And  no  one  who 
deeply  considers  life  can  fail  to  see  that  our  best  character 
comes  when,  as  Peter  says,  we  "suffer  as  a  Christian." 

O  Lord  our  God,  let  our  devout  approach  to  Thee  be  that 
of  the  heart,  not  of  the  lips.  Let  it  be  in  obedience  to  Thy 
spiritual  law,  not  to  any  outward  ritual.  Thou  desirest  not 
temples  nor  offerings,  but  the  sacrifice  of  a  lowly  and  grate- 
ful heart  Thou  will  not  despise.  Merciful  Father,  to  all  Thy 
dispensations  we  would  submit  ourselves,  not  grudgingly, 

130 


FAITH'S  GREATEST  OBSTACLE          [VI-2] 

not  merely  of  necessity,  but  because  we  believe  in  Thy  wisdom, 
Thy  universal  rule,  and  Thy  goodness.  In  bereavement  and  in 
sorrow,  in  death  as  in  life,  in  joys  and  in  happiness,  we  would 
see  Thy  Hand.  Teach  us  to  see  it;  increase  our  faith  wher$ 
we  cannot  see;  teach  us  also  to  love  justice,  and  to  do  mercy, 
and  to  walk  humbly  with  Thee  our  God.  Make  us  at  peace 
with  all  mankind,  gentle  to  those  who  offend  us,  faithful  in 
all  duties,  and  sincere  in  sorrow  when  we  fail  in  duty.  Make 
us  loving  to  one  another,  patient  in  distress,  and  ever  thankful 
to  Thy  Divine  power,  which  keeps,  and  guides,  and  blesses 
us  every  day.  Lord,  accept  our  humble  prayer,  accomplish 
in  us  Thy  holy  will.  Let  Thy  peace  reign  in  our  hearts,  and 
enable  us  to  walk  with  Thee  in  love;  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord.  Amen. — Francis  W.  Newman,  1805. 

Sixth  Week,  Second  Day 

Even  unto  this  present  hour  we  both  hunger,  and 
thirst,  and  are  naked,  and  are  buffeted,  and  have  no  cer- 
tain dwelling-place;  and  we  toil,  working  with  our  own 
hands:  being  reviled,  we  bless;  being  persecuted,  we  en- 
dure; being  defamed,  we  entreat:  we  are  made  as  the  filth 
of  the  world,  the  offscouring  of  all  things,  even  until  now. 
— I  Cor.  4:  11-13. 

If  Paul  could  be  questioned  about  the  experience  of  trouble 
which  these   verses   vividly  express,   would  he  not  say  that 
there  had  been  qualities  of  character  in  him  and  resources 
in   his    relationship    with    God   which   he   never   would   have 
known    about   had    it    not    been    for    the   test    of    adversity? 
Trouble  not  only  develops  but  also  reveals  character ;  we  do 
not  know  ourselves  until  we  have  been  tried  out  in  calamity. 
The  simplest  demand  of  adversity  on  every  man  is  that  he 
be    "game."      Henry    Newbolt    is    not    indulging    in    rhetoric 
when   he   tells   of   a    Soudan   battle   where   a   British    square^ 
made  up  of  Clifton  graduates  is  hard  beset  by  a  charge  of\ 
fierce  enemies,  and,  in  that  crisis,  makes  the  cry  of  a  Clifton 
football  captain,   "Play  up,  boys,  play  the  game !"   rally  the  / 
men    and   save   the   day.     At   school   or   in    the    Soudan   the  / 
problem    is    the    same;    the    sling    with    which    David    plays/ 
in   his   youth   is   his   chief    reliance   when   Goliath   comes ; 
"game"     spirit     is     essential     to     character     from     birth 
death.      We    turn    from    the    story    of    Nelson    at    Aboukir, 


[VI-3]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

nailing  six  flags  to  his  mast  so  that  if  even  five  were  shot 
away  no  one  would  dream  that  he  had  surrendered,  to  find 
that  the  spirit  there  exemplified  is  applicable  to  our  most 
common  day.  The  quality  which  made  Nelson  an  Admiral 
of  England,  in  spite  of  his  lost  arm,  his  lost  eye,  his  small 
stature,  and  his  feeble  health  is  one  of  our  elemental  needs. 
And  to  a  supreme  degree  this  quality  was  in  great  Christians 
like  Paul.  Read  his  letter  to  the  Philippians  and  see! 
Adversity  brought  his  spirit  to  light,  and  made  it  an  asset 
of  the  cause.  In  a  real  sense,  trouble,  however  forbidding, 
was  one  of  Paul's  best  friends,  and  there  was  a  good  reason 
why  he  should  "rejoice  in  tribulations." 

O  Father  of  spirits!  Thou  lovcst  whom  Thou  chastenest! 
Correct  us  in  our  weakness  as  the  children  of  men,  that  we 
may  love  Thee  in  our  strength  as  the  sons  of  God.  May 
the  same  mind  be  in  us  which  was  also  in  Jesus  Christ,  that 
we  may  never  shrink,  when  our  hour  comes,  from  drinking 
of  the  cup  that  he  drank  of.  Wake  in  us  a  soul  to  obey 
Thee,  not  with  the  weariness  of  servile  spirits,  but  with  the 
alacrity  of  the  holy  angels.  Fill  us  with  a  contempt  of  evil 
pleasures  and  unfaithful  ease;  sustain  us  in  the  strictness  of 
a  devout  life.  Daily  may  we  crucify  every  selfish  affection, 
and  delight  to  bear  one  another's  burdens,  to  uphold  each 
other's  faith  and  charity,  being  tender-hearted  and  forgiving 
as  we  hope  to  be  forgiven.  Hold  us  to  the  true  humility  of 
the  soul  that  has  not  yet  attained;  and  may  we  be  modest  in 
our  desire,  diligent  in  our  trust,  and  content  with  the  disposals 
of  Thy  Providence.  O  Lord  of  life  and  death!  Thy  counsels 
are  secret;  Thy  wisdom  is  infinite:  we  know  not  what  a  day 
may  bring  forth.  When  our  hour  arrives,  and  the  veil  be- 
tween the  worlds  begins  to  be  lifted  before  us,  may  we  freely 
trust  ourselves  to  Thee,  and  say,  "Father,  into  Thy  hands 
I  commend  my  spirit."  Amen. — James  Martineau. 

Sixth  Week,  Third  Day 

If  adversity,  rightly  used,  so  develops  and  reveals  charac- 
ter, we  may  expect  to  find  trouble  as  a  background  to  the 
most  admirable  men  of  the  race.  We  read  the  luminous  his- 
tories of  Francis  Parkman  and  do  not  perceive,  behind  the 
printed  page,  the  original  manuscript,  covered  with  a  screen 

132 


FAITH'S  GREATEST  OBSTACLE          [VI-3] 

of  parallel  wires,  along  which  the  blind  author  ran  his  pencil 
that  he  might  write  legibly.  We  think  of  James  Watt  as  a 
genius  at  invention,  and  perhaps  recall  that  Wordsworth 
said  of  him,  "I  look  upon  him,  considering  both  the  magni- 
tude and  the  universality  of  his  genius,  as  perhaps  the  most 
extraordinary  man  that  this  country  ever  produced."  But 
Watt  himself  we  forget — sickly  of  body,  starving  on  eight 
shillings  a  week,  and  saying,  "Of  all  things  in  life  there  is 
nothing  more  foolish  than  inventing."  Kant's  philosophy 
was  a  turning  point  in  human  thought,  but  lauding  Kant,  how 
few  recall  his  struggle  with  a  broken  body !  Said  he,  speak- 
ing of  his  incurable  illness,  "I  have  become  master  of  its 
influence  in  my  thoughts  and  actions  by  turning  my  attention 
away  from  this  feeling  altogether,  just  as  if  it  did  not  at 
all  concern  me."  Wilberforce,  the  liberator  of  British  slaves, 
we  know,  and  beside  his  grave  in  Westminster  Abbey  we 
recall  the  superb  title  that  he  earned,  "the  attorney  general 
of  the  unprotected  and  of  the  friendless,"  but  the  Wilber- 
force who  for  twenty  years  was  compelled  to  use  opium 
to  keep  himself  alive,  and  had  the  resolution  never  to  in- 
crease the  dose — who  knows  of  him?  One  of  the  chief 
rewards  of  reading  biography  is  this  introduction  that  it 
gives  to  handicapped  men ;  the  knowledge  it  imparts  of  the 
world's  great  saints  and  scripture  makers,  conquerors  and 
reformers,  who,  in  the  words  of  Thucydides,  "dared  beyond 
their  strength,  hazarded  against  their  judgment,  and  in  ex- 
tremities were  of  excellent  hope."  And  when  one  turns  to 
the  supreme  Character,  could  the  dark  background  be  elimi- 
nated and  still  leave  Him? 

But  now  we  see  not  yet  all  things  subjected  to  him. 
But  we  behold  him  who  hath  been  made  a  little  lower 
than  the  angels,  even  Jesus,  because  of  the  suffering  of 
death  crowned  with  glory  and  honor,  that  by  the  grace 
of  God  he  should  taste  of  death  for  every  man.  For  it 
became  him,  for  whom  are  all  things,  and  through  whom 
are  all  things,  in  bringing  many  sons  unto  glory  to  make 
the  author  of  their  salvation  perfect  through  sufferings. 
— Heb.  2:  8-10. 

O  God,  who  art  unsearchable  in  Thy  judgments,  and  in 
Thy  ways  past  finding  out,  we  bow  before  the  mystery  of 
Thy  Being,  and  confess  that  we  know  nothing,  and  can  say 

133 


[VI-4]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

nothing  -worthy  of  Thee.  We  cannot  understand  Thy  deal- 
ings -with  us.  We  have  faith,  not  sight;  -when  we  cannot 
see,  we  may  only  believe.  Sometimes  Thou  seemest  to  have 
no  mercy  upon  us.  Thou  dost  pierce  us  through  our  most 
tender  affections,  quenching  the  light  of  our  eyes  in  dreadful 
darkness.  Death  tears  from  us  all  that  we  love,  and  Thou 
art  seemingly  deaf  to  all  our  cries.  Our  earthly  circum- 
stances are  reversed  and  bitter  poverty  is  appointed  us,  yet 
Thou  takest  no  heed,  and  bringest  no  comfort  to  the  sorrow 
and  the  barrenness  of  our  life.  Still  would  we  trust  in  Thee 
and  cling  to  that  deepest  of  our  instincts  which  tells  us  that 
we  come  from  Thee  and  return  to  Thee.  Be  with  us,  Father 
of  Mercies,  in  love  and  pity  and  tenderness  unspeakable. 
Lift  our  souls  into  Thy  perfect  calm,  where  all  our  wills 
are  in  harmony  with  Thine.  Amen. — Samuel  McComb. 

Sixth  Week,  Fourth  Day 

To  one  perplexed  and  disheartened  by  adversity,  a  theo- 
retical explanation  is  generally  not  half  as  valuable  as  con- 
crete instances  of  courage  and  fortitude,  founded  on  faith. 
Whether  we  be  theologians  or  scientists  or  as  ignorant  of 
both  as  Caliban,  there  is  an  immediate,  personal  call  to  arms 
in  the  brave  fight  of  George  Matheson,  one  of  Scotland's 
great  preachers  for  all  his  blindness,  or  in  Louis  Pasteur's 
indomitable  will,  making  his  discoveries  despite  the  paralytic 
stroke  that  in  his  forty-sixth  year  crippled  his  strength.  The 
qualities  which  we  admire  in  them  are  a  sort  of  apotheosis 
of  the  qualities  which  we  need  in  ourselves.  For  we  all  are 
handicapped,  some  by  ill-starred  heredity,  by  unhappy  en- 
vironment, or  by  the  consequences  of  our  own  neglect  and. 
sin;  some  by  poverty,  some  by  broken  bodies,  or  by  dis- 
severed family  ties — and  all  of  us  by  unfortunate  dispositions. 
It  does  us  good  then  to  know  that  Phillips  Brooks  failed 
as  a  teacher.  His  biographer  tells  us  that  so  did  his  first 
ambition  to  be  an  educator  cling  to  him,  that  in  the  prime 
of  life,  when  he  was  the  prince  of  preachers,  he  came  from 
President  Eliot's  office,  pale  and  trembling,  because  he  had 
refused  a  professorship  at  Harvard.  So  Robertson,  of 
Brighton,  whose  sermons  began  a  new  epoch  in  British  Chris- 
tianity, was  prevented  from  being  a  soldier  only  by  the  feeble- 
ness of  his  body,  and  Sir  Walter  Scott,  who  wanted  to  be 

134 


FAITH'S  GREATEST  OBSTACLE          [VI-4] 

a  poet,  turned  to  novel  writing,  anonymously  and  tentatively 
trying  -a  new  role,  because,  as  he  frankly  put  it,  "Because 
Byron  beat  me."  He  is  an  excellent  cook  who  knows  how  to 
make  a  good  dinner  out  of  the  left-overs,  and  hardly  a  more 
invigorating  truth  is  taught  by  history  than  that  most  of  the 
finest  banquets  spread  for  the  delectation  of  the  race  have 
been  prepared  by  men  who  made  them  out  of  the  leavings 
of  Jisappointed  hopes. 

Therefore  let  us  also,  seeing  we  are  compassed  about 
with  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  lay  aside  every  weight, 
and  the  sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset  us,  and  let  us  run 
with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before  us,  looking  unto 
Jesus  the  author  and  perfecter  of  our  faith,  who  for  the 
joy  that  was  set  before  him  endured  the  cross,  despising 
shame,  and  hath  sat  down  at  the  right  hand  of  the  throne 
of  God.  For  consider  him  that  hath  endured  such  gain- 
saying of  sinners  against  himself,  that  ye  wax  not  weary, 
fainting  in  your  souls. — Heb.  12:  1-3.  • 

Our  Father,  we  thank  Thee  that  -while  -we  are  sure  of  Thy 
protecting  care,  Thy  causal  providence,  "which  foresees  all 
things,  we  can  bear  the  sorrows  of  this  world,  and  do  its 
duties,  and  endure  its  manifold  and  heavy  cross.  We  thank 
Thee  that  when  distress  comes  upon  us,  and  our  mortal 
schemes  vanish  into  thin  air,  we  know  there  is  something 
solid  which  we  can  lay  hold  of,  and  not  be  frustrate  in  our 
hopes.  Yea,  we  thank  Thee  that  when  death  breaks  asunder 
the  slender  thread  of  life  whereon  our  family  jewels  are 
strung,  and  the  precious  stones  of  our  affection  fall  from 
our  arms  or  neck,  we  know  Thou  takest  them  and  elsewhere 
givcst  them  a  heavenly  setting,  wherein  they  shine  before  the 
light  of  Thy  presence  as  morning  stars,  brightening  and 
brightening  to  more  perfect  glory,  as  they  are  transfigured 
by  Thine  own  almighty  power. 

We  thank  Thee  for  all  the  truth  wr.ich  the  stream  of  time 
has  brought  to  us  from  many  a  land  and  every  age.  We  thank 
Thee  for  the  noble  examples  of  human  nature  which  Thou 
hast  raised  up,  that  in  times  of  darkness  there  are  wise  men, 
in  times  of  doubt  there  are  firm  men,  and  in  every  peril  there 
stand  up  heroes  of  the  soul  to  teach  us  feebler  men  our  duty, 
and  to  lead  all  of  Thy  children  to  trust  in  Thee.  Father,  we 
thank  Thee  that  the  seed  of  righteousness  is  never  lost,  but 

135 


[VI-S]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

through  many  a  deluge  is  carried  safe,  to  make  the  wilder- 
ness to  bloom  and  blossom  with  beauty  ever  fragrant  and 
ever  new,  and  the  desert  bear  corn  for  men  and  sustain  the 
souls  of  the  feeble  when  they  faint.  Amen. — Theodore 
Parker. 

Sixth  Week,  Fifth  Day 

One  distinguishing  mark  of  the  men  who  have  won  their 
victories  with  the  remnants  of  their  defeat  is  that  they  refuse 
to  describe  their  unideal  conditions  in  negative  terms.  If 
they  cannot  live  in  southern  California  where  they  would 
choose  to  live,  but  must  abide  in  New  England  instead,  they 
•do  not  describe  New  England  in  terms  of  its  deficiencies — 
310  orange  groves,  no  acres  of  calla  lilies,  no  palm  trees. 
There  are  compensations  even  in  New  England,  if  one  will 
carefully  take  account  of  stock  and  see  what  positively  is 
there !  Or  if  a  man  would  choose  to  live  in  Boston  and  must 
live  in  Labrador,  the  case  of  Grenfell  suggests  that  a  posi- 
tive attitude  toward  his  necessity  will  discover  worth,  and 
material  for  splendid  triumphs  even  on  that  inhospitable 
coast.  The  mark  of  the  handicapped  men  who  have  made 
the  race's  history  glorious  has  always  been  their  patriotism 
for  the  country  where  they  had  to  live.  They  do  not  stop 
long  to  pity  themselves,  or  to  envy  another's  opportunity,  or 
to  blame  circumstances  for  their  defeat,  or  to  dream  of  what 
might  have  been,  or  to  bewail  their  disappointed  hopes.  If 
the  soil  of  their  condition  will  not  grow  one  crop,  they 
discover  what  it  will  grow.  They  have  insight,  as  did  Moses, 
to  see  holy  ground  where  an  ordinary  man  would  have  seen 
only  sand  and  sagebrush  and  sheep. 

Now  Moses  was  keeping  the  flock  of  Jethro  his  father- 
in-law,  the  priest  of  Midian:  and  he  led  the  flock  to  the 
back  of  the  wilderness,  and  came  to  the  mountain  of  God, 
unto  Horeb.  And  the  angel  of  Jehovah  appeared  unto  him 
in  a  flame  of  fire  out  of  the  midst  of  a  bush:  and  he  looked, 
and,  behold,  the  bush  burned  with  fire,  and  the  bush  was 
not  consumed.  And  Moses  said,  I  will  turn  aside  now, 
and  see  this  great  sight,  why  the  bush  is  not  burnt.  And 
when  Jehovah  saw  that  he  turned  aside  to  see,  God  called 
unto  him  out  of  the  midst  of  the  bush,  and  said,  Moses, 
Moses.  And  he  said,  Here  am  I.  And  he  said,  Draw  not 
nigh  hither:  put  off  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet,  for  the 

136 


FAITH'S  GREATEST  OBSTACLE          [VI-6] 

place    whereon    thou    standest   is    holy    ground. — Exodus 
3:  i-5- 

Father  of  life,  and  God  of  the  living,  Fountain  of  our  being 
and  Light  of  all  our  day;  we  thank  Thee  for  that  knowledge 
of  Thyself  which  lights  our  life  with  eternal  splendor,  for 
that  giving  of  Thyself  w'hich  has  made  us  partakers  of  Thy 
divine  nature.  We  bless  Thee  -for  everything  around  us 
which  ministers  Thee  to  our  minds;  for  the  greatness  and 
glory  of  nature,  for  the  history  of  our  race,  and  the  lives 
of  noble  men;  for  the  thoughts  of  Thee  expressed  in  human 
words,  in  the  art  of  painters  and  musicians,  in  the  work  of 
builders  and  craftsmen.  We  bless  Thee  for  the  constant 
memories  of  what  we  are  that  rise  within  ourselves;  for  the 
pressure  of  duty,  the  hush  of  solemn  thoughts,  for  moments 
of  insight  when  the  veil  on  the  face  of  all  things  falls  away, 
for  hours  of  high  resolve  when  life  is  quickened  within,  for 
seasons  of  communion  when,  earth  and  sense  forgotten,  heaven 
holds  our  silent  spirits  raptured  and  aflame. 

We  have  learned  to  praise  Thee  for  the  darker  days  when 
we  had  to  walk  by  faith,  for  weary  hours  that  strengthened 
patience  and  endeavor,  for  moments  of  gloom  and  times  of 
depression  which  taught  us  to  trust,  not  to  changing  tides 
of  feeling,  but  to  Thee  who  changest  not.  And  now  since 
Christ  has  won  His  throne  by  His  cross  of  shame,  risen 
from  His  tomb  to  reign  forever  in  the  hearts  of  men,  we  know 
that  nothing  can  ever  separate  us  from  Thee;  that  in  all 
conflicts  we  may  be  more  than  conquerors;  that  all  dark  and 
hostile  things  shall  be  transformed  and  work  for  good  to 
those  who  know  the  secret  of  Thy  love. 

Glory  be  to  Thee,  O  Lord.    Amen.—W.  E.  Orchard. 

Sixth  Week,  Sixth  Day 

When  folk  have  seen  into  human  life  deeply  enough  so 
that  they  perceive  how  adversity  can  be  used  to  high  issues, 
faith  in  God  becomes  not  so  much  a  speculative  problem  as  a 
practical  need.  They  want  to  deal  with  trouble  nobly.  They 
see  that  faith  in  God  gives  the  outlook  on  life  which  makes 
the  hopeful  facing  of  adverse  situations  reasonable  and  which 
supplies  power  to  make  it  possible.  The  result  is  that  the 
great  sufferers  have  been  the  great  believers.  The  idea  that 
fortunate  circumstances  make  vital  faith  in  God  probable  is 

137 


[VI-6]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

utterly  unsupported  by  history.  Hardly  an  outstanding  cham- 
pion of  faith  who  has  left  an  indelible  impress  on  man's 
spiritual  life  can  anywhere  be  found,  who  has  not  won  his 
faith  and  confirmed  it  in  the  face  of  trouble.  What  is  true 
of  individuals  is  true  of  generations.  The  days  of  Israel's 
triumphant  faith  did  not  come  in  Solomon's  reign,  when 
wealth  was  plentiful  and  national  ambitions  ran  high.  The 
great  prophets  and  the  great  psalms  stand  out  against  the 
dark  background  of  the  Exile  and  its  consequences. 

Awake,  awake,  put  on  strength,  O  arm  of  Jehovah; 
awake,  as  in  the  days  of  old,  the  generations  of  ancient 
times.  Is  it  not  thou  that  didst  cut  Rahab  in  pieces,  that 
didst  pierce  the  monster?  Is  it  not  thou  that  driedst  up 
the  sea,  the  waters  of  the  great  deep;  that  madest  the 
depths  of  the  sea  a  way  for  the  redeemed  to  pass  over? 
And  the  ransomed  of  Jehovah  shall  return,  and  come  with 
singing  unto  Zion;  and  everlasting  joy  shall  be  upon  their 
heads:  they  shall  obtain  gladness  and  joy;  and  sorrow 
and  sighing  shall  flee  away. 

I,  even  I,  am  he  that  comforteth  you:  who  art  thou, 
that  thou  art  afraid  of  man  that  shall  die,  and  of  the  son 
of  man  that  shall  be  made  as  grass;  and  hast  forgotten 
Jehovah  thy  Maker,  that  stretched  forth  the  heavens,  and 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth;  and  fearest  continually 
all  the  day  because  of  the  fury  of  the  oppressor,  when 
he  maketh  ready  to  destroy?  and  where  is  the  fury  of  the 
oppressor?  The  captive  exile  shall  speedily  be  loosed; 
and  he  shall  not  die  and  go  down  into  the  pit,  neither 
shall  his  bread  fail.  For  I  am  Jehovah  thy  God,  who 
stirreth  up  the  sea,  so  that  the  waves  thereof  roar:  Jehovah 
of  hosts  is  his  name.  And  I  have  put  my  words  in  thy 
mouth,  and  have  covered  thee  in  the  shadow  of  my  hand, 
that  I  may  plant  the  heavens,  and  lay  the  foundations  of 
the  earth,  and  say  unto  Zion,  Thou  art  my  people.  —  Isa. 


That  is  a  voice  out  of  the  Exile.  Such  great  believers, 
whose  faith  shone  brightest  when  the  night  was  darkest, 
have  not  pretended  to  know  the  explanation  of  suffering  in 
God's  world.  But  they  have  had  insight  to  see  a  little  and 
trust  for  the  rest.  Stevenson  has  expressed  their  faith  :  "If 
I  from  my  spy-hole,  looking  with  purblind  eyes  upon  a  least 
part  of  a  fraction  of  the  universe,  yet  perceive  in  my  own 
destiny  some  broken  evidences  of  a  plan,  and  some  signals 

138 


FAITH'S  GREATEST  OBSTACLE          [VI-;] 

of  an  overruling  goodness ;» shall  I  then  be  so  mad  as  to 
complain  that  all  cannot  be  deciphered?  Shall  I  not  rather 
wonder,  with  infinite  and  grateful  surprise,  that  in  so  vast 
a  scheme  I  seem  to  have  been  able  to  read,  however  little, 
and  that  little  was  encouraging  to  faith?" 

We  thank  Thee,  O  God,  that  Thou  dost  ride  upon  the  cloud, 
and  govern  the  storm.  All  that  to  us  is  dark  is  light  to 
Thee.  The  night  shincth  as  the  day.  All  that  which  seems 
to  us  irregular  and  ungoverned,  is  held  in  Thine  hand,  even 
as  the  steed  by  the  rein.  From  age  to  age  Thou  dost  control 
the  long  procession  of  events,  discerning  the  end  from  the 
beginning;  and  all  the  wild  mixture,  all  the  confusion,  all  the 
sorrow  and  the  suffering,  is  discerned  of  Thee.  As  is  the 
palette  to  the  color,  as  is  violence  to  development  in  strength, 
as  is  the  crushing  of  the  grape  to  the  wine,  so  in  Thy  sight 
all  things  are  beneficent  that  to  us  are  most  confusing  and 
seemingly  conflicting  and  threatening.  Sorrow  and  pain  and 
disaster  are  woven  in  the  loom  of  God;  and  in  the  end  we, 
too,  shall  be  permitted  to  discern  the  fair  pattern,  and  under- 
stand how  that  which  brought  tears  here  shall  bring  right- 
eousness there. 

O,  how  good  it  is  to  trust  Thee,  and  to  believe  that  Thou 
art  wise,  and  that  Thou  art  full  of  compassion,  as  Thou 
earnest  on  Thy  great  work  of  love  and  benevolence,  sym- 
pathising with  all  that  suffer  on  the  way,  and  gathering  them 
at  last  with  an  exceeding  great  salvation!  We  trust  Thee, 
not  because  we  understand  Thee,  but  because  in  many  things 
Thou  hast  taught  us  where  we  should  have  been  afraid  to 
trust.  We  have  crossed  many  a  gulf  and  many  a  roaring 
stream  upon  the  bridge  of  faith,  and  have  exulted  to  find 
ourselves  safe  landed,  and  have  learned  to  trust  Thee,  as  a 
child  a  parent,  as  a  passenger  the  master  of  a  ship,  not 
because  we  know,  but  because  Thou  knowest.  Amen. — 
Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

Sixth  Week,  Seventh  Day 

Every  one  therefore  that  heareth  these  words  of  mine, 
and  doeth  them,  shall  be  likened  unto  a  wise  man,  who 
built  his  house  upon  the  rock:  and  the  rain  descended, 
and  the  floods  came,  and  the  winds  blew,  and  beat  upon 
that  house;  and  it  fell  not:  for  it  was  founded  upon  the 

139 


[VI-7]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

rock.  And  every  one  that  he.areth  these  words  of  mine, 
and  doeth  them  not,  shall  be  likened  unto  a  foolish  man, 
who  built  his  house  upon  the  sand:  and  the  rain  de- 
scended, and  the  floods  came,  and  the  winds  blew,  and 
smote  upon  that  house;  and  it  fell:  and  great  was  the 
fall  thereof. — Matt.  7:  24-27. 

An  important  fact  is  here  asserted  by  the  Master,  which 
is  commonly  obscured  in  the  commentaries.  He  says  that 
no  matter  whether  a  man's  life  be  built  on  sand  or  on  rock, 
he  yet  will  experience  the  blasts  of  adversity;  on  both  houses 
alike  "the  rain  descended,  and  the  floods  came,  and  the  winds 
blew."  The  Master  repeatedly  affirmed  that  trouble  comes 
without  necessary  reference  to  character,  that  while  we  may 
always  argue  that  sin  causes  suffering,  we  never  can  con- 
fidently argue  that  suffering  comes  from  sin  (Luke  13:  4; 
John  9:  1-3).  Folks  needlessly  and  unscripturally  harass 
their  souls  when  they  suppose  that  some  special  trouble  must 
have  befallen  them  because  of  some  special  sin.  The  book  of 
Job  was  written  to  disprove  that,  and  as  for  the  'Master,  he 
distinctly  says  that  the  man  of  faith  with  his  house  on  a 
rock  faces  the  same  storm  that  wrecks  the  faithless  man. 
The  difference  is  not  in  the  adversity,  but  in  the  adversity's 
effect.  No  more  important  question  faces  any  soul  than  this : 
seeing  that  trouble  is  an  unevadable  portion  of  every  life, 
good  or  bad,  what  am  I  to  do  with  it?  Says  Oliver  Wendell 
Holmes,  "Did  you  ever  happen  to  see  that  most  soft-spoken 
and  velvet-handed  steam-engine  at  the  Mint?  The  smooth 
piston  slides  backward  and  forward  as  a  lady  might  slip 
her  delicate  finger  in  and  out  of  a  ring.  The  engine  lays 
one  of  its  fingers  calmly,  but  firmly,  upon  a  bit  of  metal; 
it  is  a  coin  now,  and  will  remember  that  touch,  and  tell  a  new 
race  about  it,  when  the  date  upon  it  is  crusted  over  with 
twenty  centuries.  So  it  is  that  a  great  silent-moving  misery 
puts  a  new  stamp  on  us  in  an  hour  or  a  moment — as  sharp 
an  impression  as  if  it  had  taken  half  a  lifetime  to  engrave 
it."  The  only  flaw  in  that  simile  is  that  the  coin  cannot  decide 
what  impression  shall  be  made.  But  we  can.  Rebellion, 
despair,  bitterness,  or  triumphant  faith — we  can  say  which 
impression  adversity  shall  leave  upon  us. 

O  God  of  our  life,  Whom  we  dimly  apprehend  and  never 
can  comprehend,  to  Whom  nevertheless  we  justly  ascribe  all 

140 


FAITH'S  GREATEST  OBSTACLE          [VI-c] 

goodness  as  well  as  all  greatness;  as  a  father  teaches  his 
children,  so  teach  us,  Lord,  truer  thoughts  of  Thee.  Teach 
us  to  aspire,  so  far  as  man  may  lawfully  aspire,  to  a  knowl- 
edge of  Thee.  Thou  art  not  only  a  God  to  be  honored  in 
times  of  rest  and  ease,  Thou  art  also  the  Refuge  of  the 
distressed,  the  Comforter  of  the  afflicted,  the  Healer  of  the 
contrite,  and  the  Support  of  the  unstable.  As  we  sympathize 
with  those  wlio  are  sore  smitten  by  calamity,  wounded  by 
sudden  accident,  wrecked  in  the  midst  of  security,  so  must 
ice  believe  that  Thy  mighty  all-embracing  heart  sympathizes. 
1'itier  of  the  orphan,  God  of  the  widow,  cause  us  to  share 
Thy  pity  and  become  Thy  messengers  of  tenderness  in  our 
small  measure.  Be  Thou  the  Stay  of  all  in  life  and  death. 
Teach  all  to  know  and  trust  Thee,  give  us  a  portion  here 
and  everywhere  with  Thy  saints;  through  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord.  Amen. — Francis  W.  Newman,  1805. 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 

I 

Few  who  have  sincerely  tried  to  believe  in  God's  goodness 
and  who  have  lived  long  enough  to  face  the  harrowing  facts 
of  human  wretchedness  will  doubt  what  obstacle  most 
hampers  faith.  The  major  difficulty  which  perplexes  many 
Christians,  when  they  try  to  reconcile  God's  love  with  their 
experience,  is  not  belief's  irrationality  but  life's  injustice. 
According  to  the  Psalmist,  "The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart. 
'There  is  no  God'"  (Psalm  14:1).  But  the  fool  is  not  the 
only  one  who  has  said  that.  He  said  it,  jeering;  he  announced 
it  in  derision ;  he  did  not  want  God,  and  contemptuous  denial 
was  a  joy.  It  was  the  temper  of  his  negation  that  made  him 
a  fool.  But  many  hearts,  in  tones  far  different  from  his, 
have  said,  "There  is  no  God."  Parents  cry  it  brokenheartedly 
beside  the  graves  of  children ;  the  diseased  cry  it,  suffering 
from  keener  agony  than  they  can  bear ;  fathers  cry  it  when 
their  battle  against  poverty  has  failed  and  their  children  plead 
in  vain  for  bread ;  and  men  who  care  about  their  kind  say  it 
as  they  watch  the  anguish  with  which  war,  drunkenness,  lust, 
disease,  and  poverty  afflict  the  race.  No  man  of  moral  insight 
will  call  such  folk  fools.  The  wretchedness  and  squalor,  the 
misery  and  sin  which  rest  upon  so  much  of  humankind  are  a 
notorious  difficulty  in  the  way  of  faith. 

141 


[VI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

In  dealing  with  this  problem  two  short  cuts  are  often  tried, 
and  by  them  some  minds  endeavor  to  evade  the  issue  which 
faith  ought  to  meet.  Some  minimize  the  suffering  which 
creation  cost  and  which  man  and  animals  are  now  enduring. 
We  must  grant  that  when  we  read  the  experience  of  animals 
in  terms  of  man's  own  life,  we  always  exaggerate  their  pain. 
Animals  never  suffer  as  we  do;  their  misery  is  not  com- 
pounded by  our  mental  agonies  of  regret  and  fear;  and  even 
their  physical  wretchedness  is  as  much  lower  in  intensity  as 
their  nerves  are  less  exquisitely  tuned.  Darwin,  who  surely 
did  not  underestimate  the  struggle  for  existence,  said  in  a 
letter,  "According  to  my  judgment,  happiness  decidedly  pre- 
vails. All  sentient  beings  have  been  formed  so  as  to  enjoy, 
as  a  general  rule,  happiness."  We  must  grant  also  that  man's 
practical  attitude  toward  life  gives  the  lie  to  pessimism.  Only 
the  suicides  are  the  logical  pessimists,  and  all  the  rest  of  men, 
most  with  good  heart  and  multitudes  with  jubilant  enthusiasm, 
do  actually  cling  to  life.  Indeed,  all  normal  men  discover, 
that,  within  limits,  their  very  hardships  are  a  condition  of 
their  happiness  and  do  not  so  much  abate  their  love  of  life 
as  they  add  zest  and  tang.  We  must  grant  further  that  suf- 
fering should  be  measured  not  by  quantity,  but  by  intensity. 
One  sensitive  man  enduring  bereavement,  poverty,  or  disease 
represents  all  the  suffering  that  ever  has  been  or  ever  can  be 
felt.  To  speak  of  limitless  suffering,  therefore,  is  false. 
There  is  no  more  wretchedness  anywhere  nor  in  all  the  world 
together,  than  each  one  can  know  in  his  own  person. 

When  all  this,  however,  has  been  granted,  the  facts  of  the 
world's  misery  are  staggering.  Modern  science  has  given 
terrific  sweep  and  harrowing  detail  to  Paul's  assertion,  "The 
whole  creation  groaneth  and  travaileth  in  pain  together  until 
now"  (Rom.  8:22).  Let  one  whose  insight  into  misery's 
meanings  is  quickened  by  even  a  little  imagination,  try  to  sum 
up  the  agony  of  drunkards'  homes,  of  bereaved  families,  of 
hospitals,  insane  asylums,  jails,  and  prisons,  of  war  with  its 
unmentionable  horrors — its  blinded,  deafened,  maddened, 
raped — and  no  small  palliatives  can  solve  his  problem.  Rather 
he  understands  the  picture  which  James  Russell  Lowell  said 
he  saw  years  ago  in  Belgium :  an  angel  holding  back  the 
Creator  and  saying,  "If  about  to  make  such  a  world,  stay 
thine  hand." 

Another  short  cut  by  which  some  endeavor  to  simplify  the 
142 


FAITH'S  GREATEST  OBSTACLE          [VI-c] 

problem  and  content  their  thought  is  to  lift  responsibility  for 
life's  zcrctclu-dticss  from  God's  shoulders  and  to  put  it  upon 
man's.  Were  man's  sin  no  factor  in  the  world,  some  say,  life's 
miseries  would  cease ;  all  the  anguish  of  our  earthly  lot  stands 
not  to  God's  responsibility  but  to  man's  shame.  But  the  suf- 
ferings of  God's  creatures  did  not  begin  with  man's  ar- 
rival, and  the  pain  of  creation  before  man  sinned  is  a  longer 
story  than  earth's  misery  since.  Let  Romanes  picture  the 
scene:  "Some  hundred  of  millions  of  years  ago,  some  mil- 
lions of  millions  of  animals  must  be  supposed  to  have  become 
sentient.  Since  that  time  till  the  present,  there  must  have 
been  millions  and  millions  of  generations  of  millions  and  mil- 
lions of  individuals.  And  throughout  all  this  period  of  in- 
calculable duration,  this  inconceivable  host  of  sentient  organ- 
izations have  been* in  a  state  of  unceasing  battle,  dread,  ravin, 
pain.  Looking  to  the  outcome,  we  find  that  more  than  one- 
half  of  the  species  which  have  survived  the  ceaseless  struggle 
are  parasitic  in  their  habits,  lower  and  insentient  forms  of 
life,  feasting  on  higher  and  sentient  forms,  we  find  teeth  and 
talons  whetted  for  slaughter,  hooks  and  suckers  molded  for 
torture — everywhere  a  reign  of  terror,  hunger,  sickness,  with 
oozing  blood  and  quivering  limbs,  with  gasping  breath  and 
eyes  of  innocence  that  dimly  close  in  deaths  of  cruel  torture." 
Is  man  responsible  for  that?  For  cold  that  freezes  God's  liv- 
ing creatures,  for  lightning  that  kills  them,  for  volcanoes  that 
burn  them,  for  typhoons  that  crush  them — is  man  responsible? 
By  no  such  easy  evasion  may  we  escape  the  problem  which 
faith  must  meet.  "In  sober  truth,"  as  John  Stuart  Mill  ex- 
claimed, "nearly  all  the  things  which  men  are  hanged  or  im- 
prisoned for  doing  to  one  another,  are  Nature's  everyday  per- 
formances." Who  can  avoid  seeing  the  patent  contrast  be- 
tween the  Father  of  Jesus  and  the  Creator  of  such  a  world? 
"The  power  that  launches  earthquakes  and  arms  cuttlefish," 
said  one  perplexed  believer,  "has  but  a  meager  relationship  to 
the  power  that  blesses  infants  and  forgives  enemies." 

II 

Could  we  hold  this  problem  at  arm's  length,  discussing  it 
in  speculative  moods  when  we  grow  curious  about  the  make- 
up of  the  universe,  our  case  would  be  more  simple.  But 
of  all  life's  problems,  this  most  certainly — sometimes  creeping, 

143 


[VI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

sometimes  crashing — invades  our  private  lives.  Every  man 
has  a  date  with  adversity  which  he  must  keep  'and  which  ad- 
versity does  not  forget.  One  notes  the  evidence  of  this  in 
every  normally  maturing  life.  As  children  we  wanted  happi- 
ness and  were  impatient,  lacking  it.  Our  cups  of  pleasure 
easily  brimmed  and  overflowed.  A  Christmas  tree  or  a  birth- 
day party — and  our  hearts  were  like  sun-parlors  on  cloudless 
days  with  all  the  windows  open  to  the  light !  But  the  time 
comes  to  all  when  happiness  like  this  is  not  our  problem ;  we 
recognize  that  it  is  gone ;  our  Edens  are  behind  us  with  flam- 
ing angels  at  the  gate.  We  have  had  friends  and  lost  them 
and  something  has  gone  from  our  hearts  that  does  not  return ; 
we  have  won  successes  which  we  do  not  estimate  as  highly 
in  possession  as  we  did  in  dreams,  and  it  may  be  have  lost 
what  little  we  achieved ;  we  have  sinned,  and  though  forgiven, 
the  scars  are  still  upon  us ;  we  have  been  weathered  by  the 
Drains  and  floods  and  winds.  Happiness  in  the  old  fashion  we 
f  no  longer  seek.  We  want  peace,  the  power  to  possess  our 
\  souls  in  patience  and  to  do  our  work.  We  want  joy,  which  is 
V  profound  and  spiritually  begotten  grace  as  happiness  is  not. 
This  maturity  which  so  has  faced  the  tragic  aspects  of  our 
human  life  is  not  less  desirable  than  childhood;  it  may  be 
richer,  fuller,  steadier.  We  may  think  of  it  as  Wordsworth 
did  about  the  English  landscape — that  not  for  all  the  sunny 
skies  of  Italy  would  he  give  up  the  mists  that  spiritualize 
the  English  hills.  But  when  trouble  comes,  life  faces  a  new 
set  of  problems  that  childhood  little  knew.  We  have  joined 
the  human  procession  that  moves  out  into  the  inevitable  need 
of  comfort  and  fortitude. 

The  decisive  crisis  in  many  lives  concerns  the  attitude  which 
this  experience  evokes.  Some  are  led  by  it  more  deeply  into 
the  meanings  of  religion.  The  Bible  grows  in  their  appre- 
hension with  the  enlarging  of  their  life;  new  passages  become 
radiant  as,  in  a  great  landscape,  hills  and  valleys  lately  unil- 
lumined  catch  the  rays  of  the  rising  sun.  At  first  the  human 
friendliness  of  Jesus  is  most  real,  and  the  Bible's  stories  of 
adventure  for  God's  cause;  then  knightly  calls  to  character 
and  service  become  luminous ;  but  soon  or  late  another  kind 
of  passage  grows  meaningful :  "Now  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
himself,  and  God,-  our  Father  who  loved  us  and  gave  us 
eternal  comfort  and  good  hope  through  grace,  comfort  your 
hearts  and  establish  them"  (II  Thess.  2:16).  Others,  so  far 

144 


s  GREATEST  OBSTACLE          [VI-c] 

from  being  led  by  adversity  into  the  deeper  meanings  of  faith, 
renounce  faith  altogether,  and  fling  themselves  into  open  re- 
bellion against  life  and  any  God  who  may  be  responsible  for 
its  tragedy.  They  may  not  dare  to  say  what  James  Thomson 
did,  but  they  think  it — 

"Who  is  most  wretched  in  this  dolorous  place? 
I  think  myself ;  yet  I  would  rather  be 
My  miserable  self  than  He,  than  He 
Who  formed  such  creatures  to  his  own  disgrace. 

The  vilest  thing  must  be  less  vile  than  Thou 
From  whom  it  had  its  being,  God  and  Lord ! 
Creator  of  all  woe  and  sin !  abhorred, 

Malignant  and  implacable  !    I  vow 

That  not  for  all  Thy  power  furled  and  unfurled, 
For  all  the  temples  to  Thy  glory  built, 
Would  I  assume  the  ignominious  guilt 

Of  having  made  such  men  in  such  a  world!" 

Many,  however,  are  not  by  adversity  made  more  sure  of 
God,  nor  are  they  driven  into  rebellion  against  him.  They  are 
perplexed.  It  had  been  so  much  easier,  in  the  sheltered  and 
innocent  idealism  of  their  youth,  to  believe  in  God  than  it  is 
now.  As  children  they  looked  on  life  as  they  might  have 
listened  to  Mozart's  music,  ravished  with  unqualified  delight ; 
but  now  they  know  that  Mozart  died  in  abject  poverty,  that 
the  coffin  which  his  wife  could  not  buy  was  donated  by  charity, 
that  as  the  hearse  went  to  the  grave  the  driver  loudly  damned 
the  dead  because  no  drink  money  had  been  given  him,  and 
that  to  this  day  no  one  knows  where  Mozart's  body  lies. 
Maturity  has  to  deal  with  so  much  more  tragic  facts  than 
youth  can  ever  know.  With  all  the  philosophy  that  man's  wit 
can  supply,  the  wisest  find  themselves  saying  what  Emerson 
did,  two  years  after  his  son's  death :  "I  have  had  no  expe- 
rience, no  progress  to  put  me  into  better  intelligence  with 
my  calamity  than  when  it  was  new."  And  in  this  inevitable 
wrestling  with  adversity,  the  cry  of  men  is  not  simply  for 
more  courage.  They  might  easily  steady  their  hearts  to  en- 
dure and  overcome,  were  only  one  question's  answer  clear — • 
is  there  any  sense  in  life's  suffering?  The  one  unsupportable 
thought  is  that  all  life's  pain  and  hardship  is  meaningless  and 
futile,  that  it  has  no  worthy  origin,  serves  no  high  purpose, 

145 


[VI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

that  in  misery  we  are  the  sport  of  forces  that  have  no  con- 
sciousness of  what  they  do,  no  meaning  in  it  and  no  care. 
Such  folk  want  to  believe  in  God,  but — can  they? 

Ill 

Two  preliminary  facts  about  Christianity's  relationship  with 
our  problem  may  help  to  clarify  our  thought.  The  doubt 
sometimes  obtrudes  itself  on  minds  perplexed  about  life's 
tragedies  that  the  Christian's  faith  in  a  God  of  love  is  an 
idealistic  dream.  Such  faiths  as  the  Fatherhood  of  God  have 
come  to  men,  they  think,  in  happy  hours  when  calamity  was 
absent  or  forgotten ;  they  are  the  fruition  of  man's  fortunate 
days.  And"  born  thus  of  a  view  of  life  from  which  the  mis- 
eries of  men  had  been  shut  out,  this  happy,  ideal  faith  comes 
back  to  painful  realities  with  a  shock  which  it  cannot  sus- 
tain. But  is  Christian  faith  thus  the  child  of  man's  happy 
days?  Rather  the  very  symbol  of  Christianity  is  the  Cross. 
Our  faith  took  its  rise  in  one  of  history's  most  appalling  trag- 
edies, and  the  Gospel  of  a  loving  God,  so  far  from  being  an 
ideal  dream,  conceived  apart  from  life's  forbidding  facts,  has 
all  these  centuries  been  intertwined  with  the  public  brutality 
of  a  crucifixion.  Every  emphasis  of  the  Christian's  faith  has 
the  mark  of  the  Cross  upon  it.  Jesus  had  said  in  words  that 
/  God  was  love,  but  it  was  at  Calvary  that  the  words  took 
'  fire :  "God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten 
son"  (John  3:16).  Jesus  had  preached  the  divine  forgive- 
ness, but  on  Golgotha  the  message  grew  imperative :  "God 
commendeth  his  own  love  toward  us,  in  that,  while  we  were 
yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us"  (Rom.  5:8).  Jesus  had  put 
into  parables  the  individual  care  of  the  Father  for  every 
child,  but  it  was  the  Cross  that  drove  the  great  faith  home : 
Christ  tasted  "death  for  every  man"  (Heb.  2:9).  Nothing  in 
Christian  faith  has  escaped  the  formative  influence  of  the 
Tragedy.  The  last  thing  to  be  said  about  the  Gospel  is  that 
it  is  a  beautiful  child-like  dream  which  has  not  faced  the 
facts  of  suffering.  In  the  New  Testament  are  all  the  miseries 
on  which  those  who  deny  God's  love  count  for  support. 
We  are  at  home  there  with  suffering  men :  "they  were  stoned, 
they  were  sawn  asunder,  they  were  tempted,  they  were  slain 
with  the  sword :  they  went  about  in  sheepskins,  in  goatskins ; 
being  destitute,  afflicted,  ill-treated  (of  whom  the  world  was 

146 


FAITH'S  GREATEST  OBSTACLE          [VI-c] 

not  worthy),  wandering  in  deserts  and  mountains  and  caves 
and  the  holes  of  the  earth"  (Heb.  11 :  37,  38).  The  men  with 
whom  Christianity  began  were  not  strangers  to  such  trouble, 
so  that  some  modern  need  remind  their  innocent  and  dream- 
ing faith  that  life  is  filled  with  mysterious  adversity.  Chris- 
tianity was  suckled  on  adversity;  it  was  cradled  in  pain.  At 
the  heart  of  its  Book  and  its  Gospel  is  a  Good  Man  crowned 
•with  thorns,  nailed  to  a  cross,  -with  a  spear  wound  in  his  side. 

Nor  have  the  great  affirmations  of  faith  in  God's  fatherhood 
ever  been  associated  with  men  of  ease  in  fortunate  circum- 
stance. The  voice  that  cried  "Father,  into  thy  hands  I  com- 
mend my  spirit"  spoke  in  agonizing  pain.  And  through  his- 
tory one  finds  those  words  best  spoken  with  a  cross  for  a 
background.  Thomas  a  Becket  said  them,  martyred  in  his 
own  cathedral ;  John  Huss  said  them,  going  to  the  stake  at 
Constance ;  George  Wishart  said  them,  roasted  at  the  foot  of 
the  sea-tower  of  St.  Andrews.  Christian  faith  is  not  a  dream 
that  came  in  hours  when  human  trouble  had  been  forgotten ; 
it  has  furnished  from  the  beginning  an  interpretation  of  hu- 
man trouble  and  an  attitude  in  meeting  it  that  has  made  men 
"more  than  conquerors." 

The  second  preliminary  fact  is  this :  Christianity  has  never 
pretended  to  supply  a  theoretical  explanation  of  why  suffer- 
ing had  to  be.  This  seeming  lack  has  excellent  reason,  for 
such  an  explanation,  if  it  be  complete,  is  essentially  beyond  the 
reach  of  any  finite  mind.  The  most  comprehensive  question 
ever  asked,  some  philosopher  has  said,  was  put  by  a  child. 
"Why  was  there  ever  anything  at  all?"  No  finite  mind  can 
answeT~tlTaT~^AliH^exrlrrncbTrlp^retTensiveness,  and  in  pene- 
tration to  the  very  pith  of  creation's  meaning,  is  this  query, 
"Why,  if  something  had  to  be,  was  it  made  as  it  is?"  One 
must  be  God  htrrrs-rff— fully  to  answer  that,  or  to  comprehend 
the  answer,  could  it  be  written  down.  To  expect  therefore, 
from  Christianity  or  from  any  other  source  a  theoretical  ex- 
planation that  will  plumb  the  depths  of  the  mystery  of  suffer- 
ing is  to  cry  for  the  essentially  impossible.  So  Carlyle  says 
with  typical  vividness :  "To  the  minnow  every  cranny  and 
pebble,  and  quality  and  accident  of  its  little  native  creek  may 
have  become  familiar;  but  does  the  minnow  understand  the 
Ocean  Tides  and  periodic  Currents,  the  Trade-winds,  and 
Monsoons,  and  Moon's  Eclipses ;  by  all  which  the  condition  of 
its  little  Creek  is  regulated,  and  may,  from  time  to  time  (un- 

147 


[VI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

miraculously  enough),  be  quite  overset  and  reversed?  Such 
a  minnow  is  Man ;  his  Creek  this  Planet  Earth ;  his  Ocean 
the  immeasurable  All;  his  Monsoons  and  periodic  Currents 
the  mysterious  Course  of  Providence  through  Aeons  of 
Aeons." 

So  little  is  this  inability  of  ours  to  know  all  that  we  wish 
about  the  world  a  cause  for  regret,  that  it  ought  to  be  an 
occasion  of  positive  rejoicing.  If  we  could  understand  the 
universe  through  and  through,  how  small  and  meager  the  uni- 
verse would  have  to  be !  The  fact  is  that  we  cannot  under- 
stand anything  through  and  through.  If  one  is  disheartened 
because  he  cannot  pierce  to  the  heart  of  Providence  and  know 
all  its  secrets,  let  him  try  his  hand  upon  a  pebble  and  see  how 
much  better  he  will  fare.  What  is  a  pebble?  If  one  define 
it  roughly  as  granite. he  must  ask  what  granite  is;  if  that  be 
defined  in  terms  of  chemical  properties,  he  must  ask  what  they 
are;  if  they  be  defined  as  ultimate  forms  of  matter,  he  must 
inquire  what  matter  is ;  and  then  he  will  be  told  that  matter  is 
a  "mode  of  motion,"  or  will  be  assured  by  a  more  candid 
scientist,  like  Professor  Tait,  that  "we  do  not  know  and  are 
probably  incapable  of  discovering  what  matter  is."  No  one 
ever  solves  the  innermost  problems  of  a  stone,  but  what  can 
be  done  with  stones  our  engineering  feats  are  evidence. 

If,  therefore,  we  recognize  at  the  beginning  that  the  ques- 
tion why  suffering  had  to  be  is  an  ultimate  problem,  essen- 
tially insoluble  by  finite  minds,  we  need  not  be  dismayed. 
Two  opposing  mysteries  are  in  the  world — goodness  and  evil. 
If  we  deny  God,  then  goodness  is  a  mystery,  for  no  one  has 
ever  yet  suggested  how  spiritual  life  could  rise  out  of  an  un- 
spiritual  source,  how  souls  could  come  from  dust.  If  we 
affirm  God,  then  evil  is  a  mystery,  for  why,  we  ask,  should 
love  create  a  world  with  so  much  pain  and  sin?  Our  task  is 
not  to  solve  insoluble  problems ;  it  is  to  balance  these  alter- 
natives— no  God  and  the  mystery  of  man's  spiritual  life, 
against  God  and  the  mystery  of  evil.  Such  a  comparison  is 
not  altogether  beyond  our  powers,  nor  are  weighty  considera- 
tions lacking  to  affect  our  choice. 

IV 

For  one  thing,  we  may  well  inquire,  when  we  complain  of 
this  world's  misery,  what  sort  of  world  we  are  seeking  in  its 

148 


FAITH'S  GREATEST  OBSTACLE          [VI-c] 

place.  Are  we  asking  for  a  perfectly  happy  world?  But  hap- 
piness, at  its  deepest  and  its  best,  is  not  the  portion  of  a 
cushioned  life  which  never  struggled,  overpassed  obstacles, 
bore  hardship,  or  adventured  in  sacrifice  for  costly  aims.  A 
heart  of  joy  is  never  found  in  luxuriously  coddled  lives,  but 
in  men  and  women  who  achieve  and  dare,  who  have  tried 
their  powers  against  antagonisms,  who  have  met  even  sick- 
ness and  bereavement  and  have  tempered  their  souls  in  fire. 
Joy  is  begotten  not  chiefly  from  the  impression  of  happy  cir- 
cumstance, but  from  the  expression  of  overcoming  power. 
Were  we  set  upon  making  a  happy  world,  therefore,  we  could 
not  leave  struggle  out  nor  make  adversity  impossible.  The 
unhappiest  world  conceivable  by  man  would  be  a  world  with 
nothing  hard  to  do,  no  conflicts  to  wage  for  ends  worth  while ; 
a  world  where  courage  was  not  needed  and  sacrifice  was  a 
superfluity.  Beside  such  an  inane  lotos-land  of  tranquil  ease 
this  present  world  with  all  its  suffering  is  a  paradise.  Men 
in  fact  find  joy  where  in  philosophy  we  might  not  look  for 
it.  Said  MacMillan,  after  a  terrific  twelve-month  with  Peary 
on  the  Arctic  continent:  "This  has  been  the  greatest  year  of 
my  life." 

The  impossibility  of  imagining  a  worth-while  world  from 
which  adversity  had  all  been  banished  is  even  more  evident 
when  one  grows  ill-content  to  think  of  happiness  as  the 
goal  of  life.  That  we  should  be  merely  happy  is  not  an  ade- 
quate end  of  the  creative  purpose  for  us,  or  of  our  purpose 
for  ourselves.  In  our  best  hours  we  acknowledge  this  in  the 
way  we  handle  trouble.  However  much  in  doubt  a  man  may 
be  about  the  theory  of  suffering,  he  knows  infallibly  how  suf- 
fering practically  should  be  met.  To  be  rebellious,  cursing 
fate  and  hating  life;  to  pity  oneself,  nursing  one's  hurts  in 
morbid  self-commiseration — the  ignobility  of  such  dealing 
with  calamity  we  indubitably  know.  Even  where  we  fall 
feebly  short  of  the  ideal,  we  have  no  question  what  the  ideal 
is.  When  in  biography  or  among  our  friends  we  see  folk 
face  crushing  trouble,  not  embittered  by  it,  made  cynical, 
or  thrust  into  despair,  but  hallowed,  sweetened,  illumined, 
and  empowered,  we  are  aware  that  noble  characters  do 
not  alone  bear  trouble;  they  use  it.  As  men  at  first  faced 
electricity  in  dread,  conceiving  toward  it  no  attitude  be- 
yond building  lightning-rods  to  ward  away  its  stroke,  but 
now  with  greater  understanding  harness  it  to  do  their 

149 


[VI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

will,  so  men,  as  they  grow  wise  and  strong,  deal  with  their 
suffering.  They  make  it  the  minister  of  character ;  they  set 
it  to  build  in  them  what  nothing  save  adversity  can  ever 
build — patience,  courage,  sympathy,  and  power.  They  even 
choose  it  in  vicarious  sacrifice  for  the  good  of  others,  and 
by  it  save  the  world  from  evils  that  nothing  save  some  one's 
suffering  could  cure.  They  act  as  though  character,  not  hap- 
piness, were  the  end  of  life.  And  when  they  are  at  their 
best  they  do  this  not  with  stoic  intrepidity,  as  though  trouble's 
usefulness  were  but  their  fancy,  but  joyfully,  as  though  a  good 
purpose  in  the  world  included  trouble,  even  though  not  intend- 
ing it.  So  Robert  Louis  Stevenson,  facing  death,  writes  to  a 
friend  about  an  old  woman  whose  ventriloquism  had  fright- 
ened the  natives  of  Vailima,  "All  the  old  women  in  the  world 
might  talk  with  their  mouths  shut  and  not  frighten  you  or 
me,  but  there  are  plenty  of  other  things  that  frighten  us  badly. 
And  if  we  only  knew  about  them,  perhaps  we  should  find 
them  no  more  worthy  to  be  feared  than  an  old  woman  talk- 
ing with  her  mouth  shut.  And  the  names  of  some  of  these 
things  are  Death  and  Pain  and  Sorrow." 

Whatever,  then,  may  be  our  theoretical  difficulty  about  suf- 
fering, this  truth  is  clear :  when  we  are  at  our  best  we  prac- 
tically deal  with  suffering  as  though  moral  quality  were  the 
goal  of  life.  We  use  adversity,  as  though  discipline  were  its 
purpose  and  good  its  end.  It  is  worth  noting  that  the  only 
theory  which  fully  fits  this  noblest  attitude  toward  trouble  is 
Christianity.  Men  may  think  God  a  devil,  as  James  Thomson 
sang,  and  yet  may  be  practically  brave  and  cheerful,  but  their 
theory  does  not  fit  their  life.  Men  may  believe  in  no  God  and 
no  purpose  in  the  world,  and  yet  may  face  adversity  with 
courage  and  hope,  but  their  spirit  belies  their  philosophy. 
When  men  are  at  their  best  in  hardship  they  act  as  though  the 
Christian  faith  in  God  were  true,  as  though  moral  quality 
ivere  the  purpose  of  creation. 

If  now,  we  really  want  a  world  in  which  character  is  the 
end  and  aim — and  no  other  world  is  worth  God's  making — we 
obviously  may  not  demand  the  abolition  of  adversity.  If  one 
imagines  a  life  from  its  beginning  lapped  in  ease  and  utterly 
ignorant  what  words  like  hardship,  sorrow,  and  calamity 
imply,  he  must  imagine  a  life  lacking  every  virtue  that  makes 
human  nature  admirable.  Character  grows  on  struggle ;  with- 
out the  overcoming  of  obstacles  great  quality  in  character  is 

ISO 


FAITH'S  GREATEST  OBSTACLE          [VI-c] 

unthinkable.  Whoever  has  handled  well  any  calamitous  event 
possesses  resources,  insights,  wise  attitudes,  qualities  of  sym- 
pathy and  power  that  by  no  other  road  could  have  come  to 
him.  For  all  our  complaints  against  life's  misery,  therefore, 
and  for  all  our  inability  to  understand  it  in  detail,  who  would 
not  hesitate,  foreseeing  the  consequence,  to  take  adversity 
away  from  men?  He  who  banishes  hardship  banishes  hardi- 
hood ;  and  out  of  the  same  door  with  Calamity  walk  Courage, 
Fortitude,  Triumphant  Faith,  and  Sacrificial  Love.  If  we 
abolish  the  cross  in  the  world,  we  make  impossible  the  Christ 
in  man.  It  becomes  more  clear  the  more  one  ponders  it,  that 
while  this  is  often  a  hard  world  in  which  to  be  happy,  to  men 
of  insight  and  faith  it  may  be  a  great  world  in  which  to  build 
character. 


Before  too  confidently,  however,  we  accept  this  conclusion, 
there  is  one  objection  to  be  heard.  So  far  is  the  world  from 
being  absolved  from  cruelty,  on  the  plea  of  moral  purpose, 
one  may  say,  that  its  injustice  is  the  very  crux  of  its  offense. 
See  how  negligent  of  justice  the  process  of  creation  is!  Its 
volcanoes  and  typhoons  slay  good  and  bad  alike,  its  plagues 
are  utterly  indifferent  to  character ;  and  in  the  human  world 
which  it  embosoms  some  drunken  Caesar  sits  upon  the  throne 
while  Christ  hangs  on  the  cross.  Who  for  a  single  day  can 
watch  the  gross  inequities  of  life,  where  good  men  so  often 
suffer  and  bad  men  go  free,  and  still  think  that  the  world 
has  moral  purpose  in  it?  The  Bible  itself  is  burdened  with 
complaint  against  the  seeming  senselessness  and  injustice  of 
God.  Moses  cries :  "Lord,  wherefore  hast  thou  dealt  ill  with 
this  people?  Neither  hast  thou  delivered  thy  people  at  all" 
(Exodus  5 : 22,  23)  ;  Elijah  laments,  "O  Jehovah,  my  God,  hast 
Thou  also  brought  evil  upon  the  widow,  with  whom  I  sojourn, 
by  slaying  her  son?"  (I  Kings  17:  20)  ;  Habakkuk  complains, 
"Wherefore  lookest  thou  upon  them  that  deal  treacherously, 
and  boldest  thy  peace,  when  the  wicked  swalloweth  up  the 
man  that  is  more  righteous  than  he?"  (Hab.  i  :  13)  ;  and  Job 
protests,  "Although  thou  knowest  that  I  am  not  wicked,  .  .  . 
yet  thou  dost  destroy  me"  (Job  10:7,  8).  Man's  loss  of  faith 
springs  often  from  this  utter  disparity  between  desert  and 
fortune.  The  time  comes  to  almost  every  man  when  he  looks 
on,  indignant,  desperate,  at  some  gross  horror  uninterrupted, 


[VI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

some    innocent    victim    entreated    cruelly.      He    understands 
Carlyle's  impatient  cry,  "God  sits  in  heaven  and  does  nothing !" 

Natural  as  is  this  attitude,  and  unjust  as  many  of  life's 
tragic  troubles  are,  we  should  at  least  see  this :  man  must  not 
demand  that  goodness  straightway  receive  its  pay  and  -wrong 
its  punishment.  He  may  not  ask  that  every  virtuous  deed  be 
at  once  rewarded  by  proportionate  happiness  and  every  sin  be 
immediately  punished  by  proportionate  pain.  That,  some 
might  suppose,  would  put  justice  into  life.  But  whatever  it 
might  put  into  life,  such  an  arrangement  obviously  would  take 
out  character.  The  men  whose  moral  quality  we  most  highly 
honor  were  not  paid  for  their  goodness  on  Saturday  night  and 
did  not  expect  to  be.  They  chose  their  course  for  righteous- 
ness' sake  alone,  although  they  knew  what  crowns  of  thorns, 
what  scornful  crowds  about  their  cross  might  end  the  journey. 
They  did  not  drive  close  bargains  with  their  fate,  demanding 
insurance  against  trouble  as  the  price  of  goodness.  They 
chose  the  honorable  deed  for  honor's  sake;  they  chose  it  the 
more  scrupulously,  the '  more  pleasure  was  offered  for  dis- 
honor ;  their  tone  in  the  face  of  threatened  suffering  was  like 
Milne's,  Scotland's  last  martyr:  "I  will  not  recant  the  truth, 
for  I  am  corn  and  no  chaff;  and  I  will  not  be  blown  away 
with  the  wind  nor  burst  with  the  flail,  but  I  will  abide  both." 

Every  man  is  instinctively  aware  and  by  his  admiration 
makes  it  known,  that  the  kind  of  character  which  chooses  right, 
willing  to  suffer  for  it,  is  man's  noblest  quality.  The  words 
in  which  such  character  has  found  utterance  are  man's  spirit- 
ual battle  cries.  Esther,  going  before  the  King,  saying,  "If  I 
perish,  I  perish"  (Esther  4:16);  the  three  Hebrews,  facing 
the  fiery  furnace  saying,  "Our  God  whom  we  serve  is  able  to 
deliver  us  from  the  burning  fiery  furnace ;  and  he  will  deliver 
us  out  of  thy  hand,  O  king.  But  if  not,  be  it  known  unto 
thee,  O  king,  that  we  will  not  serve  thy  gods"  (Dan.  3:  17, 
18)  ;  Peter  and  the  apostles,  facing  the  angry  Council,  say- 
ing, "We  must  obey  God  rather  than  men"  (Acts  5 : 29)  ; 
Anaxarchus,  the  martyr,  crying,  "Beat  on  at  the  case  of 
Anaxarchus ;  Anaxarchus  himself  you  cannot  touch" ;  Luther, 
defying  the  Emperor,  "Here  stand  I;  I  can  do  no  other"- 
most  words  of  men  are  easily  dispensable,  but  no  words  like 
these  can  man  afford  to  spare.  They  are  his  best.  And  this 
sort  of  goodness  has  been  possible,  because  God  had  not  made 
the  world  as  our  complaints  sometimes  would  have  it.  For 

152 


FAITH'S  GREATEST  OBSTACLE          [VI-c] 

such  character,  a  system  where  goodness  costs  is  absolutely 
necessary.  A  world  where  goodness  was  paid  cash  in  pleasant 
circumstance  would  have  no  such  character  to  show.  Right  and 
wrong  for  their  own  sakes  would  be  impossible ;  only  pru- 
dence and  imprudence  for  happiness'  sake  could  there  exist. 
Out  of  the  same  door  with  the  seeming  injustice  of  life  goes 
the  possibility  of  man's  noblest  quality — his  goodness  "in 
scorn  of  consequence."  Many  special  calamities  no  one  on 
earth  can  hope  to  understand.  But  when  one  has  granted  that 
fitness  to  grow  character  is  the  only  worthy  test  of  creation, 
it  evidently  is  not  so  simple  as  at  first  it  seemed  to  improve 
the  fundamental  structure  of  the  world. 

VI 

Indeed,  when  one  in  imagination  assumes  the  task  of 
omnipotence  and  endeavors  to  construct  a  universe  that  shall 
be  fitted  for  the  growth  of  character,  he  cannot  long  hesitate 
concerning  certain  elements  which  must  be  there.  A  system 
of  regular  laiu  would  have  to  be  the  basis  of  that  world,  for 
only  in  a  law-abiding  universe  could  obedience  be  taught.  If 
the  stars  and  planets  behaved  "like  swarms  of  flies"  and 
nothing  could  be  relied  upon  to  act  twice  in  the  same  way, 
character  and  intelligence  alike  would  be  impossible.  In 
this  new  world,  remolded,  "nearer  to  our  heart's  desire," 
progress  also  would  be  a  necessity.  A  stagnant  world  cannot 
grow  character.  There  must  be  real  work  to  do,  aims  to 
achieve;  there  must  be  imperfections  to  overpass  and  wrongs 
to  right.  Only  in  a  system  where  the  present  situation  is  a 
point  of  departure  and  a  better  situation  is  a  possibility,  where 
ideal  and  hope,  courage  and  sacrifice  are  indispensable  can 
character  grow.  In  this  improved  world  of  our  dreams,  free- 
will in  some  measure  must  be  granted  man.  If  character  is 
to  be  real,  man  must  not  in  his  choice  between  right  and 
wrong  be  as  Spinoza  pictured  him,  a  stone  hurled  through 
the  air,  which  thinks  that  it  is  flying ;  he  must  have  some  con- 
trol of  conduct,  some  genuine,  though  limited,  power  of 
choice.  And  in  this  universe  which  we  are  planning  for  char- 
acter's sake,  individuals  could  not  stand  separate  and  unre- 
lated;  they  must  be  zvovcn  into  a  community.  Love  which  is 
the  crown  of  character,  lacking  this,  would  be  impossible. 
What  happens  to  one  must  happen  to  all;  good  and  ill  alike 

153 


[VI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

must  be  contagious  in  a  society  where  we  are  "members  one 
of  another." 

No  one  of  these  four  elements  could  be  omitted  from  a 
world  whose  test  was  its  adaptability  for  character.  Men 
with  genuine  power  of  choice,  fused  into  a  fellowship  of 
social  life,  living  in  a  law-abiding  and  progressive  world — on 
no  other  terms  imaginable  to  man  could  character  be  possible. 
Yet  these  four  things  contain  all  the  sources  of  our  misery. 
Physical  law — what  tragic  issues  its  stern,  unbending  course 
brings  with  terrific  incidence  on  man !  Progress — how  obvi- 
ously it  implies  conditions  imperfect,  wrong,  through  which 
we  have  to  struggle  toward  the  best !  Free-will — what  a  night- 
mare of  horror  man's  misuse  of  it  has  caused  since  sin  began! 
Social  fellowship — how  surely  the  innocent  must  suffer  with 
the  guilty,  how  impossible  for  any  man  to  bear  the  conse- 
quence of  his  own  sin  alone!  We  may  not  see  why  these 
general  conditions  should  involve  the  particular  calamities 
which  we  bewail,  but  even  our  finite  minds  can  see  thus  far 
into  the  mystery  of  suffering:  all  our  trouble  springs  from 
four  basic  factors  in  the  universe,  without  any  one  of  which, 
great  character  would  be  impossible. 

While,  therefore,  if  one  deny  God,  the  mystery  of  goodness 
lacks  both  sense  and  solution ;  one  may  affirm  God  and  find 
the  mystery  of  evil,  mysterious  still  but  suffused  with  light. 
God  is  working  out  a  spiritual  purpose  here  by  means  with- 
out which  no  spiritual  purpose  is  conceivable.  Fundamentally 
creation  is  good.  We  misuse  it,  we  fail  to  understand  its 
meaning  and  to  appropriate  its  discipline,  and  impatient  be- 
(  cause  the  eternal  purpose  is  not  timed  by  our  small  clocks,  we 

(  have  to  confess  with  Theodore  Parker,  "The  trouble  seems  to 

be  that  God  is  not  in  a  hurry  and  I  am."    In  hours  of  insight, 

however,  we  perceive  how  little  our  complaints  will  stand  the 

/test  of   dispassionate  thought.     Our  miseries  are   not  God's 

/  inflictions  on  us  as  individuals,  so  that  we  may  judge  his  char- 
'\acter  and  his  thought  of  us  by  this  special  favor  or  by  that 
particular  calamity.  The  most  careless  thinker  feels  the  poor 
philosophy  of  Lord  Londonderry's  petulant  entry  in  his 
journal:  "Here  I  learned  that  Almighty  God,  for  reasons 
best  known  to  himself,  had  been  pleased  to  burn  down  my 
house  in  the  county  of  Durham."  One  must  escape  such 
narrow  egoism  if  he  is  to  understand  the  purposes  of  God; 
one  must  rise  to  look  on  a  creation,  with  character  at  all  costs 

154 


FAITH'S  GREATEST  OBSTACLE          [VI-c] 

for  its  aim,  and  countless  aeons  for  its  settling.  In  the  making 
of  this  world  God  has  limited  himself;  he  cannot  lightly  do 
what  he  will.  He  has  limited  himself  in  creating  a  law-abid- 
ing system  where  his  children  must  learn  obedience  without 
special  exemptions ;  in  ordaining  a  progressive  system  where 
what  is  is  the  frontier  from  which  men  seek  what  ought  to 
be;  in  giving  men  the  power  to  choose  right,  with  its  inevit- 
able corollary,  the  power  to  choose  wrong;  in  weaving  men 
into  a  communal  fellowship  where  none  can  escape  the  con- 
tagious life  of  all.  What  Martineau  said  of  the  first  of  these 
is  true  in  spirit  of  them  all :  "The  universality  of  law  is  God's 
eternal  act  of  self  limitation  or  abstinence  from  the  move- 
ments of  free  affection,  for  the  sake  of  a  constancy  that  shall 
never  falter  or  deceive." 

When  once  a  man  has  risen  to  the  vision  of  so  splendid  a 
purpose  in  so  great  a  world,  he  rejoices  in  the  outlook. 
Granted  that  now  he  sees  in  a  mirror  darkly,  that  many  a 
cruel  event  in  human  life  perplexes  still — he  has  seen  enough 
to  give  solid  standing  to  his  faith.  What  if  an  insect,  someone 
has  suggested,  were  born  just  after  a  thunderstorm  began 
and  died  just  before  it  stopped — how  dark  would  be  its  pic- 
ture of  creation !  But  we  who  span  a  longer  period  of  time, 
are  not  so  obsessed  by  thunderstorms,  although  we  may  not 
like  them.  They  have  their  place  and  serve  their  purpose; 
we  see  them  in  a  broader  perspective  than  an  insect  knows 
and  on  sultry  days  we  even  crave  their  coming.  A  broken 
doll  is  to  a  child  a  cruel  tragedy,  but  to  the  father  watch- 
ing the  child's  struggle  to  accept  the  accident,  to  make  the 
best  of  it  and  to  come  off  conqueror,  the  event  is  not  utterly 
undesirable.  He  is  not  glad  at  the  child's  suffering,  but  with 
his  horizons  he  sees  in  it  factors  which  she  does  not  see. 
So  God's  horizons  infinitely  overpass  our  narrow  outlooks. 
There  is  something  more  than  whimsy  in  the  theologian's 
saying,  which  President  King  reports,  that  an  insect  crawl- 
ing up  a  column  of  the  Parthenon,  with  difficulty  and  pain 
negotiating  passage  about  a  pore  in  the  stone,  is  as  well  quali- 
fied to  judge  of  the  architecture  of  the  Parthenon,  as  we  of 
the  infinitude  of  God's  plans.  Seeing  as  much  as  we  have 
seen  of  sense  and  purpose  in  the  structure  of  creation,  we 
have  seen  all  that  our  finite  minds  with  small  horizons  could 
have  hoped.  We  have  gained  ample  justification  for  the  atti- 
tude toward  suffering  which  Dolly  Winthrop  in  Silas  Marner 

155 


[VI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

has  immortalized :  "Eh,  there's  trouble  i'  this  world,  and 
there's  things  as  we  can  niver  make  out  the  rights  on.  And 
all  as  we've  got  to  do  is  to  trusten,  Master  Marner — to  do  the 
right  thing  as  far  as  we  know  and  to  trusten.  For  if  us,  as 
knows  so  little,  can  see  a  bit  o'  good  and  rights,  we  may  be 
sure  as  there's  a  good  and  a  rights  bigger  nor  what  we  can 
know — I  feel  it  i'  my  own  inside  as  it  must  be  so." 

VII 

We  may  not  truthfully  leave  our  subject  in  such  a  case  that 
faith's  concern  with  human  misery  will  seem  to  lie  merely  in 
giving  adversity  an  explanation.  Faith  is  concerned  not  alone 
to  explain  misery  but  to  heal  it.  For  while  it  is  impossible 
without  hardship  to  develop  character,  there  are  woeful 
calamities  on  earth  that  do  not  help  man's  moral  quality ; 
they  crush  and  mutilate  it;  they  are  barbarous  intruders  on 
the  plan  of  God  and  they  have  no  business  in  his  world. 
Some  ills  are  such  that  no  theory  can  reconcile  them  with  the 
love  of  God  and  no  man  ought  to  desire  such  reconciliation ; 
in  the  love  of  God  they  ought  to  be  abolished.  Slavery  must 
be  a  possibility  in  a  world  where  man  is  free ;  but  God's 
goodness  was  not  chiefly  vindicated  by  such  a  theory  of  ex- 
planation. It  was  chiefly  vindicated  by  slavery's  abolishment. 
The  liquor  traffic  and  war,  needless  poverty  in  a  world  so 
rich,  avoidable  diseases  that  science  can  overcome — how  long 
a  list  of  woes  there  is  that  faith  should  not  so  much  explain 
as  banish !  When  some  ills  like  drunkenness  and  war  and 
economic  injustice  are  thrust  against  our  faith,  and  men  ask 
that  the  goodness  of  God  be  reconciled  with  these,  faith's  first 
answer  should  be  not  speculation  but  action.  Such  woes,  so 
far  from  being  capable  of  reconciliation  with  God's  good- 
ness, are  irreconcilable  with  a  decent  world.  God  does  not 
want  to  be  reconciled  with  them ;  he  hates  them  "with  a  per- 
fect hatred."  We  may  not  make  ourselves  patient  with  them 
by  any  theory  of  their  necessity.  They  are  not  necessary; 
they  are  perversions  of  man's  life;  and  the  best  defense  of 
faith  is  their  annihilation. 

Indeed,  a  man  who,  rebellious  in  complaint,  has  clamorously 
asked  an  explanation  of  life's  ills  as  the  price  of  faith  in 
God,  may  well  in  shame  consider  God's  real  saints.  When 
things  were  at  their  worst,  when  wrong  was  conqueror  and 

156 


FAITH'S  GREATEST  OBSTACLE          [VI-c] 

evils  that  seemed  blatantly  to  deny  the  love  of  God  were  in 
the  saddle,  these  spiritual  soldiers  went  out  to  fight.  The 
winds  of  ill  that  blow  out  our  flickering  faith  made  their 
religion  blaze — a  pillar  of  fire  in  the  night.  The  more  evil 
they  faced,  the  more  religion  they  produced  to  answer  it. 
They  were  the  real  believers,  who  "through  faith  subdued 
kingdoms,  wrought  righteousness,  obtained  promises."  In 
comparison  with  such,  it  is  obviously  paltry  business  to  drive 
a  bargain  with  God  that  if  all  goes  well  we  will  believe  in  him, 
but  if  things  look  dark,  then  faith  must  go. 

Many  a  man,  therefore,  who  is  no  philosopher  can  be  a 
great  defender  of  the  faith.  He  may  not  weave  arguments 
to  prove  that  such  a  world  as  this  in  its  fundamental  structure 
is  fitted  to  a  moral  purpose.  But  he  can  join  the  battle  to 
banish  from  the  world  those  ills  that  have  no  business  here 
and  that  God  hates.  He  can  help  produce  that  final  defense 
of  the  Christian  faith — a  world  where  it  is  easier  to  believe  in 
God. 


157 


CHAPTER  VII 

Faith   and  Science 

DAILY  READINGS 

The  intellectual  difficulties  which  trouble  many  folk  in- 
volve the  relations  of  faith  with  science,  but  often  they  do 
not  so  much  concern  the  abstract  theories  of  science  as  they 
do  the  particular  attitudes  of  scientists.  We  are  continually 
faced  with  quotations  from  scientific  specialists,  in  which 
religion  is  denied  or  doubted  or  treated  contemptuously,  and 
even  while  the  merits  of  the  case  may  be  beyond  the  ordinary 
man's  power  of  argument,  he  nevertheless  is  shaken  by  the 
general  opinion  that  what  ministers  say  in  the  pulpit  on  Sun- 
day is  denied  by  what  scientists  say  all  the  rest  of  the  week. 
In  the  daily  readings,  therefore,  we  shall  deal  with  the 
scientists  themselves,  as  a  problem  which  faith  must  meet. 

Seventh  Week,  First  Day 

No  one  can  hope  to  deal  fairly  with  the  scientists,  in  their 
relationship  with  faith,  unless  he  begins  with  a  warm  apprecia- 
tion of  the  splendid  integrity  and  self-denial  which  the 
scientific  search  for  truth  has  revealed. 

Canst  thou  bind  the  cluster  of  the  Pleiades, 

Or  loose  the  bands  of  Orion? 

Canst  thou  lead  forth  the  Mazzaroth  in  their  season? 

Or  canst  thou  guide  the  Bear  with  her  train? 

Knowest  thou  the  ordinances  of  the  heavens? 

Canst  thou  establish  the  dominion  thereof  in  the  earth? 

Canst  thou  lift  up  thy  voice  to  the  clouds, 

That  abundance  of  waters  may  cover  thee? 

Canst  thou  send  forth  lightnings,  that  they  may  go, 

And  say  unto  thee,  Here  we  are? 

Who  hath  put  wisdom  in  the  inward  parts? 

Or  who  hath  given  understanding  to  the  mind? 

158 


FAITH  AND  SCIENCE  [VII-i] 

Who  can  number  the  clouds  by  wisdom? 

Or  who  can  pour  out  the  bottles  of  heaven, 

When  the  dust  runneth  into  a  mass, 

And  the  clods  cleave  fast  together?        — Job   38:  31-38. 

Such  is  man's  ancient  wonder  before  the  physical  uni- 
verse ;  and  in  the  endeavor  to  discover  the  truth  about  it 
science  has  developed  saints  and  martyrs  whose  selfless  and 
sacrificial  spirit  is  unsurpassed  even  in  the  annals  of  the 
Church.  Men  have  spent  lives  of  obscure  and  unrewarded 
toil  to  get  at  a  few  new  facts;  they  have  suffered  persecu- 
tion, and,  even  after  torture,  have  reaffirmed  the  truth  of 
their  discoveries,  as  did  Galileo,  when  he  insisted,  "The 
earth  does  move."  They  have  surrendered  place  and  wealth, 
friends  and  life  itself  in  their  passion  for  the  sheer  truth, 
and  when  human  service  was  at  stake  have  inoculated  them- 
selves with  deadly  diseases  that  they  might  be  the  means 
of  discovering  the  cure,  or  have  sacrificed  everything  thai 
men  hold  most  dear  to  destroy  an  ancient,  popular,  and  hurt- 
ful fallacy.  The  phrase  "pride  of  science"  is  often  used  in 
depreciation  of  the  scientists.  There  is  some  excuse  for  the 
phrase,  but  in  general,  when  one  finds  pride,  dogmatism,  in- 
tolerance, they  are  the  work  of  ignorance  and  not  of  science. 
The  scientific  spirit  has  been  characteristically  humble.  Says 
Huxley:  "Science  seems  to  me  to  teach  in  the  highest  and 
strongest  manner  the  great  truth  which  is  embodied  in  the 
Christian  conception  of  entire  surrender  to  the  will  of  God. 
Sit  down  before  the  fact  as  a  little  child,  be  prepared  to  give 
up  every  preconceived  notion,  follow  humbly  wherever  and 
to  whatever  end  nature  leads,  or  you  shall  learn  nothing. 
...  I  have  only  begun  to  learn  content  and  peace  of  mind 
since  I  have  resolved  at  all  risks  to  do  this."  The  Christian, 
above  all  others,  is  bound  to  approach  the  study  of  the  con- 
troversy between  science  and  theology  with  a  high  estimate 
of  the  integrity  and  disinterested  unselfishness  of  the  scien- 
tists. 

O  God,  we  thank  Thee  for  the  world  in  which  Thou  hast 
placed  us,  for  the  universe  whose  vastness  is  revealed  in  the 
blue  depths  of  the  sky,  whose  immensities  are  lit  by  shining 
stars  beyond  the  strength  of  mind  to  follow.  We  thank  Thee 
for  every  sacrament  of  beauty;  for  the  sweetness  of  flowers, 
the  solemnity  of  the  stars,  the  sound  of  streams  and  swell- 

159 


[VII-2]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

ing  seas;  for  far-stretching  lands  and  mighty  mountains  which 
rest  and  satisfy  the  soul,  the  purity  of  dawn  which  calls  to 
holy  dedication,  the  peace  of  evening  which  speaks  of  ever- 
lasting rest.  May  we  not  fear  to  make  this  world  for  a  little 
while  our  home,  since  it  is  Thy  creation  and  we  ourselves 
are  part  of  it.  Help  us  humbly  to  learn  its  laws  and  trust 
its  mighty  powers. 

We  thank  Thee  for  the  world  within,  deeper  than  we  dare 
to  look,  higher  than  we  care  to  climb ;  for  the  great  kingdom 
of  the  mind  and  the  silent  spaces  of  the  soul.  Help  us  not 
to  be  afraid  of  ourselves,  since  we  were  made  in  Thy  image, 
loved  by  Thee  before  the  worlds  began,  and  fashioned  for 
Thy  eternal  habitation.  May  we  be  brave  enough  to  bear 
the  truth,  strong  enough  to  live  in  the  light,  glad  to  yield 
ourselves  to  Thee. 

We  thank  Thee  for  that  world  brighter  and  better  than  all, 
opened  for  us  in  the  broken  heart  of  the  Saviour;  for  the 
universe  of  love  and  purity  in  Him,  for  the  golden  sunshine 
of  His  smile,  the  tender  grace  of  His  forgiveness,  the  red 
renewing  rain  and  crimson  Hood  of  His  great  sacrifice.  May 
we  not  shrink  from  its  searching  and  surpassing  glory,  nor, 
when  this  world  fades  away,  fear  to  commit  ourselves  to  that 
world  which  shall  be  our  everlasting  home.  Amen. — W.  E. 
Orchard. 

Seventh  Week,  Second  Day 

The  Christian's  appreciation  of  scientists  should  not  stop 
short  of  profound  gratitude  for  their  service  to  religion.  If 
one  reads  Burns's  "Tarn  o'  Shanter,"  with  its  "ghaists,"  "war- 
locks and  witches,"  and  "auld  Nick,"  and  remembers  that  these 
demonic  powers  were  veritable  facts  of  terror  once,  he  will 
see  in  what  a  world  of  superstitious  fear  mankind  has  lived. 
Bells  were  first  put  into  church  steeples,  not  to  call  folk 
to  worship,  but  to  scare  the  devils  out  of  thunder-clouds, 
and  the  old  cathedral  bells  of  Europe  are  inscribed  with 
declarations  of  that  purpose.  The  ancients  hardly  believed 
in  God  so  vividly  as  they  believed  in  malicious  demons  every- 
where. Now  the  Gospel  removed  the  fear  of  these  from 
the  first  Christians ;  it  made  men  aware  of  a  conquering 
alliance  with  God,  so  that  believers  no  longer  shared  the 
popular  dread  of  unknown  demons.  But  so  long  as  thunder- 
loo 


FAITH  AND  SCIENCE  [VII-2] 

storms,   pestilences,   droughts,   and   every   sort   of   evil   were 
supposed  to  be  the  work  of  devils,  even  the  Gospel  could  not 
dispel    the    general   dread.      Only   new   knowledge    could    do 
that.     While  Christianity  therefore  at  its  best  has  removed    ^> 
the  fear  of  evil  spirits,  science  has  removed  the  fact  of  them 
as  an  oppressive  weight  on  life.     Today  we  not  only  do  not 
dread  them,  but  we  do  not  think  of  them  at  all,  and  we  have 
science  to  thank   for  our   freedom.     By  its  clear   facing  of 
facts    and   tracing   of    laws,    science   has    lifted    from   man's 
soul   an   intolerable   burden   of    misbeliefs   and   has    cleansed 
religion  of  an  oppressive  mass  of  credulity.     True  religion 
never  had  a  deadlier  foe  than  superstition  and  superstition 
has  no  deadlier  foe  than  science.     Little  children,  brought  up 
in  our  homes  to  trust  the  love  of  the  Father,  with  no  dark  V 
background  of  malignant  devils  to  harass  and  frighten  them,     \ 
owe  their  liberty  to  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  indeed,  but  as  well 
to  the  illumination  of  science  that  has  banished  the  ancient    / 
dreads.  ^— ' 

These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you,  while  yet  abiding 
with  you.  But  the  Comforter,  even  the  Holy  Spirit,  whom 
the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  he  shall  teach  you  all 
things,  and  bring  to  your  remembrance  all  that  I  said 
unto  you.  Peace  I  leave  with  you;  my  peace  I  give  unto 
you:  not  as  the  world  giveth,  give  I  unto  you.  Let  not 
your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be  fearful. — John 
14:  25-27. 

To  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son,  God  the  Spirit,  -we  pour 
forth  most  humble  and  hearty  supplications,  that  Fie,  remem- 
bering the  calamities  of  mankind,  and  the  pilgrimage  of  this 
our  life  in  which  we  spend  our  days,  would  please  to  open 
to  us  new  consolations  out  of  the  fountain  of  His  goodness 
for  the  alleviating  of  our  miseries.  We  humbly  and  earnestly 
ask  that  human  things  may  not  prejudice  such  as  are  Divine, 
so  that  from  the  opening  of  the  gates  of  sense,  and  the 
kindling  of  a  greater  natural  light,  nothing  of  incredulity 
.  .  .  may  arise  in  our  minds  towards  Divine  mysteries;  but 
rather,  O  Lord,  that  our  minds  being  thoroughly  cleansed  and 
purged  from  fancy,  and  yet  subject  to  the  Divine  -will,  there 
may  be  given  unto  faith  the  things  that  are  faith's,  that  so  we 
may  continually  attain  to  a  deeper  knowledge  and  love  of 
Thee,  Who  art  the  Fountain  of  Light,  and  dwellest  in  the 

161 


[VII-3]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

Light  which  no  man  can  approach  unto ;  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord.    Amen. — Francis  Bacon,  1561. 

Seventh  Week,  Third  Day 

If  one  approach  the  scientists,  as  we  have  suggested,  with 
appreciation  of  their  devoted  spirit  and  of  their  beneficent 
service,  he  is  likely  to  be  fair  and  Christian  in  his  judgment. 
For  one  thing,  he  will  readily  understand  why  some  of 
them  are  not  religious  men.  The  laws  of  psychology  are  not 
suspended  when  religion  is  concerned;  there  as  elsewhere 
persistent  attention  is  the  price  of  a  vivid  sense  of  reality. 
When,  therefore,  a  man  habitually  thinks  intensely  of  noth- 
ing but  biological  tissue,  or  chemical  reactions,  or  the  diseases 
of  a  special  organ,  the  results  are  not  difficult  to  forecast. 
Darwin's  famous  confession  that  in  his  exacting  concentra- 
tion on  biology  he  utterly  lost  his  power  to  appreciate  music 
or  poetry  is  a  case  in  point.  Said  Darwin,  "My  mind  seems 
to  have  become  a  kind  of  machine  for  grinding  general  laws 
out  of  a  large  collection  of  facts."  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
such  a  mind  is  not  likely  to  be  more  vividly  aware  of  God 
than  it  is  to  feel  mu?''c's  beauty  or  poetry's  truth.  The 
plain  fact  is  that  if  any  man  should  persistently  restrict  him- 
self to  a  physical  science,  should  never  hear  a  symphony  or 
an  oratorio,  should  shut  out  from  his  experience  any  dealing 
with  music  or  enjoyment  of  it,  he  would  in  the  end  lose  all 
musical  capacity,  and  would  become  a  man  whose  apprecia- 
tion of  music  was  nil  and  whose  opinion  on  music  was  worth- 
less. Just  such  an  atrophy  of  life  is  characteristic  of  intense 
specialists.  When  one  understands  this  he  becomes  capable 
of  intelligent  sympathy  with  scientists,  even  when  he  does  not 
at  all  agree  with  their  religious  opinions.  Jude  gives  us  a 
remarkable  injunction,  plainly  applicable  here.  "On  some 
have  mercy  who  are  in  doubt." 

But  ye,  beloved,  building  up  yourselves  on  your  most  holy 
faith,  praying  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  keep  yourselves  in  the 
love  of  God,  looking  for  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  unto  eternal  life.  And  on  some  have  mercy,  who 
are  in  doubt;  and  some  save,  snatching  them  out  of  the 
fire;  and  on  some  have  mercy  with  fear;  hating  even 
the  garment  spotted  by  the  flesh. 

Now  unto  him  that  is  able  to  guard  you  from  stumbling, 
and  to  set  you  before  the  presence  of  his  glory  without 

162 


FAITH  AND  SCIENCE  [VII-4] 

blemish  in  exceeding  joy,  to  the  only  God  our  Saviour, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  be  glory,  majesty,  domin- 
ion and  power,  before  all  time,  and  now,  and  for  ever- 
more. Amen. — Jude  20-25. 

O  God,  who  so  fittest  all  things  that  they  only  thinly  veil 
Thy  presence;  -we  adore  Thee  in  the  beauty  of  the  world,  in 
the  goodness  of  human  hearts  and  in  Thy  thought  within  the 
mind.  We  praise  Thee  for  the  channels  through  which  Thy 
grace  can  come  to  us;  sickness  and  health,  joy  and  pain,  free- 
dom and  necessity,  sunshine  and  rain,  life  and  death. 

We  thank  Thee  for  all  the  gentle  and  healing  ministries 
of  life;  the  gladness  of  the  morning,  the  freedom  of  the 
wind,  the  music  of  the  rain,  the  joy  of  the  sunshine,  and  the 
deep  calm  of  the  night;  for  trees,  and  flowers,  the  clouds, 
and  skies;  for  the  tender  ministries  of  human  love,  the  un- 
selfishness of  parents,  the  love  that  binds  man  and  woman, 
the  confidence  of  little  children;  for  the  patience  of  teachers 
and  the  encouragement  of  friends. 

W e  bless  Thee  for  the  stirring  ministry  of  the  past,  for 
the  story  of  noble  deeds,  the  memory  of  holy  men,  the 
printed  book,  the  painter's  art,  the  poet's  craft;  most  of  all 
for  the  ministry  of  the  Son  of  Man,  who  taught  us  the 
eternal  beauty  of  earthly  things,  who  by  His  life  set  us  free 
from  fear,  and  by  His  death  won  us  from  our  sins  to  Thee; 
for  His  cradle,  His  cross,  and  His  crown. 

May  His  Spirit  live  within  us,  conquer  all  the  selfishness  of 
man,  and  take  away  the  sin  of  the  world.  Amen. — W.  E. 
Orchard. 

Seventh  Week,  Fourth  Day 

The  tendency  of  scientific  specialization  to  shut  out  the 
appreciation  of  life's  other  values  has  one  notable  result: 
the  opinions  of  scientific  specialists  in  the  physical  realm  on 
matters  of  religion  are  generally  not  of  major  importance. 
There  is  a  popular  fallacy  that  an  expert  in  one  realm  must 
be  listened  to  with  reverence  on  all  subjects.  But  the  fact 
is  that  a  great  physicist  is  not  by  his  scientific  eminence 
thereby  qualified  to  talk  wisely  on  politics  or  literature  or  reli- 
gion ;  rather,  so  far  as  a  priori  considerations  are  concerned, 
he  is  thereby  disqualified.  Mr.  Edison  cannot  say  anything 
on  electricity  that  is  insignificant ;  but  when  he  gave  an  inter- 

163 


[VII-4]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

view  on  immortality  he  revealed  to  everyone  who  knew  the 
history  of  thought  on  that  subject  and  the  issues  involved 
in  it,  that  on  matters  outside  his  specialty  he  could  say  things 
very  insignificant.  The  more  one  personally  knows  great 
specialists,  the  more  he  sees  how  human  they  are,  how  inter- 
est in  one  thing  shuts  out  interest  in  others,  how  the  subject 
on  which  the  mind  centers  grows  real  and  all  else  unreal,  how 
very  valuable  their  judgment  is  on  their  specialties,  and  how 
much  less  valuable  even  than  ordinary  men's  is  their  judg- 
ment on  anything  beside.  This  truth  does  not  concern  reli- 
gion only;  it  concerns  any  subject  which  calls  into  play  ap- 
preciative faculties  that  their  science  does  not  use.  For  a 
man,  therefore,  to  surrender  religious  faith  because  a  special- 
ist in  another  realm  disowns  it  is  absurd.  If  one  wishes, 
outside  of  those  whose  vital  interest  in  religion  makes  them 
specialists  there,  to  get  confirmation  from  another  class 
of  men,  let  him  look  not  to  physicists  but  to  judges.  They 
are  accustomed  to  weigh  evidence  covering  the  general  field 
of  human  life;  and  among  the  great  judicial  minds  of  this 
generation,  as  of  all  others,  one  finds  an  overwhelming  pre- 
ponderance of  religious  men. 

But  unto  us  God  revealed  them  through  the  Spirit:  for 
the  Spirit  searcheth  all  things,  yea,  the  deep  things  of 
God.  For  who  among  men  knoweth  the  things  of  a  man, 
save  the  spirit  of  the  man,  which  is  in  him?  even  so  the 
things  of  God  none  knoweth,  save  the  Spirit  of  God. 
But  we  received,  not  the  spirit  of  the  world,  but  the  spirit 
which  is  from  God;  that  we  might  know  the  things  that 
were  freely  given  to  us  of  God.  Which  things  also  we 
speak,  not  in  words  which  man's  wisdom  teacheth,  but 
which  the  Spirit  teacheth;  combining  spiritual  things  with 
spiritual  words.  Now  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the 
things  of  the  Spirit  of  God:  for  they  are  foolishness  unto 
him;  and  he  cannot  know  them,  because  they  are  spirit- 
ually judged. — I  Cor.  2:  10-14. 

O  Eternal  and  glorious  Lord  God,  since  Thy  glory  and 
honor  is  the  great  end  of  all  Thy  works,  we  desire  that  it 
may  be  the  beginning  and  end  of  all  our  prayers  and  services. 
Let  Thy  great  Name  be  glorious,  and  glorified,  and  sanctified 
throughout  the  world.  Let  the  knowledge  of  Thee  fill  all 
the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.  Let  that  be  done  in 
the  world  that  may  most  advance  Thy  glory.  Let  all  Thy 

164 


FAITH  AND  SCIENCE  [VII-s] 

works  praise  Thee.  Let  Thy  wisdom,  power,  justice,  good- 
ness, mercy,  and  truth  be  evident  unto  all  mankind,  that 
they  may  observe,  acknowledge,  and  admire  it,  and  magnify 
the  Name  of  Thee,  the  Eternal  God.  In  all  the  dispensation 
of  Thy  Providence,  enable  us  to  see  Thee,  and  to  sanctify 
Thy  Name  in  our  hearts  with  thankfulness,  in  our  lips  with 
thanksgiving,  in  our  lives  with  dutifulness  and  obedience. 
Enable  us  to  live  to  the  honor  of  that  great  Name  of  Thine 
by  which  we  are  called,  and  that,  as  we  profess  ourselves  to 
be  Thy  children,  so  we  may  study  and  sincerely  endeavor  to 
be  like  Thee  in  all  goodness  and  righteousness,  that  we  may 
thereby  bring  glory  to  Thee  our  Father  which  art  in  heaven; 
that  we  and  all  mankind  may  have  high  and  honorable 
thoughts  concerning  Thee,  in  some  measure  suitable  to  Thy 
glory,  majesty,  goodness,  wisdom,  bounty,  and  purity,  and  may 
in  all  our  words  and  actions  manifest  these  inward  thoughts 
touching  Thee  with  suitable  and  becoming  words  and  actions; 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Amen. — Lord  Chief  Justice 
Sir  Matthew  Hale,  1609. 

Seventh  Week,  Fifth  Day 

So  far  in  our  thought  we  have  tacitly  consented  to  the 
popular  supposition,  that  the  scientists  are  at  odds  with 
religion.  Many  of  them  unquestionably  are.  But  in  view  of 
the  obsessing  nature  of  scientific  specialties,  the  wonder  is 
not  that  some  scientists  are  non-religious ;  the  wonder  is  that 
so  many  are  profoundly  men  of  faith  in  God.  The  idea  that 
scientists  as  a  whole  are  irreligious  is  untrue.  Lists  of 
testimonials  from  eminent  specialists  in  favor  of  religion  are 
not  particularly  useful,  for,  as  we  have  said,  the  judgment  of 
specialists  outside  their  chosen  realm  is,  at  the  most,  no  more 
valuable  than  that  of  ordinary  men.  But  if  anyone  tries 
to  rest  his  case  against  religion  on  the  adverse  opinions  of 
great  scientists,  he  easily  can  be  driven  from  his  position. 
Sir  William  Crookes,  one  of  the  world's  greatest  chemists, 
writes :  "I  cannot  imagine  the  possibility  of  anyone  with 
ordinary  intelligence  entertaining  the  least  doubt  as  to  the 
existence  of  a  God — a  Law-Giver  and  a  Life-Giver."  Lord 
Kelvin,  called  the  "Napoleon  of  Science,"  said  that  he  could 
think  of  nothing  so  absurd  as  atheism;  Sir  Oliver  Lodge, 
perhaps  the  greatest  living  physicist  and  certainly  an  earnest 

165 


[VII-5]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

believer,  writes,  "The  tendency  of  science,  whatever  it  is, 
is  not  in  an  irreligious  direction  at  the  present  time" ;  Sir 
George  Stokes,  the  great  physicist  (died  1903),  affirmed  his 
belief  that  disbelievers  among  men  of  science  "form  a  very 
small  minority" ;  and  Sir  James  Geikie,  Dean  of  the  Faculty 
of  Science  at  Edinburgh  University,  impatiently  writes,  "It 
is  simply  an  impertinence  to  say  that  'the  leading  scientists 
are  irreligious  or  anti-Christian.'  Such  a  statement  could  only 
be  made  by  some  scatter-brained  chatterbox  or  zealous 
fanatic."  The  fact  is  that,  in  spite  of  the  tendency  of  high 
specialization  to  crowd  out  religious  interest  and  insight,  our 
great  scientists  have  never  thrown  the  mass  of  their  influ- 
ence against  religion,  and  today,  in  the  opinion  of  one  of  their 
chief  leaders,  are  growing  to  be  increasingly  men  of  religious 
spirit.  Whatever  argument  is  to  be  based  on  the  testimony 
of  the  scientists  is  rather  for  religion  than  against  it. 

For  this  cause  I  also,  having  heard  of  the  faith  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  which  is  among  you,  and  the  love  which  ye 
show  toward  all  the  saints,  cease  not  to  give  thanks  for 
you,  making  mention  of  you  in  my  prayers;  that  the  God 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Father  of  glory,  may  give 
unto  you  a  spirit  of  wisdom  and  revelation  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  him;  having  the  eyes  of  your  heart  enlightened, 
that  ye  may  know  what  is  the  hope  of  his  calling,  what 
the  riches  of  the  glory  of  his  inheritance  in  the  saints, 
and  what  the  exceeding  greatness  of  his  power  to  us-ward 
who  believe. — Eph.  i:  15-19. 

O  Lord,  Who  by  Thy  holy  Apostle  hast  taught  us  to  do 
all  things  in  the  Name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  and  to  Thy  glory; 
give  Thy  blessing,  we  pray  Thee,  to  this  our  work,  that  we 
may  do  it  in  faith,  and  heartily,  as  to  the  Lord,  and  not 
unto  men.  All  our  powers  of  body  and  mind  are  Thine,  and 
we  would  fain  devote  them  to  Thy  service.  Sanctify  them 
and  the  work  in  which  we  are  engaged;  let  us  not  be  slothful, 
but  fervent  in  spirit,  and  do  Thou,  0  Lord,  so  bless  our 
efforts  that  they  may  bring  forth  in  us  the  fruit  of  true 
wisdom.  Strengthen  the  faculties  of  our  minds,  and  dispose 
us  to  exert  them  for  Thy  glory  and  for  the  furtherance  of 
Thy  Kingdom.  Save  us  from  all  pride  and  vanity  and 
reliance  upon  our  own  power  or  wisdom.  Teach  us  to  seek 
after  truth,  and  enable  us  to  gain  it;  while  we  know  earthly 

166 


I- AIT II  AND  SCIENCE  [VII-6J 

things,  may  we  know  Thee,  and  be  known  by  Thee  through 
and  in  Thy  Son  Jesus  Christ,  that  we  may  be  Thine  in  body 
and  spirit,  in  all  our  work  and  undertakings;  through  Jesus 
Christ.  Amen. — Thomas  Arnold,  1795. 

Seventh  Week,  Sixth  Day 

Far  more  important  than  the  opinions  of  individual  scien- 
tists for  religion  or  against  it,  is  the  fact  that  scientists 
are  coming  increasingly  to  recognize  the  limitations  of  their 
field.  The  field  of  science  is  limited;  its  domain  is  the  sys- 
tem of  facts  and  their  laws,  which  make  the  immediate  en- 
vironment of  man's  life;  but  with  the  Origin  of  all  life,  with 
the  character  of  the  Power  that  sustains  us  and  with  the 
Destiny  that  lies  ahead  of  us  science  does  not,  cannot  deal. 
The  most  superficial  observance  shows  how  little  any  great 
soul  lives  within  the  confines  of  science's  discoveries.  Carlyle, 
after  his  great  bereavement,  writes  to  his  friend  Erskine  : 

"  'Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven,  hallowed  be  Thy  name, 
Thy  will  be  done' — what  else  can  we  say?  The  other  night 
in  my  sleepless  tossings  about,  which  were  growing  more 
and  more  miserable,  these  words,  that  brief  and  grand 
Prayer,  came  strangely  to  my  mind,  with  an  altogether  new 
emphasis;  as  if  written  and  shining  for  me  in  mild  pure 
splendor,  on  the  black  bosom  of  the  Night  there;  when  I, 
as  it  were,  read  them  word  by  word — with  a  sudden  check 
to  my  imperfect  wanderings,  with  a  sudden  softness  of  com- 
posure which  was  much  unexpected.  Not  for  perhaps  thirty 
or  forty  years  had  I  once  formally  repeated  that  prayer — 
nay,  I  never  felt  before  how  intensely  the  voice  of  man's 
soul  it  is ;  the  inmost  aspiration  of  all  that  is  high  and  pious 
in  poor  human  nature."  But  supposing  that  the  facts  of 
science  were  all  of  reality  and  the  laws  of  science  all  of 
truth,  what  sort  of  prayer  could  Carlyle  have  offered?  An- 
other has  suggested  the  form  which  the  Lord's  Prayer  would 
take  in  a  world  that  lacked  religious  faith :  "Our  brethren 
who  are  upon  the  earth,  hallowed  be  our  name ;  our  King- 
dom come ;  our  will  be  done  on  earth ;  for  there  is  no 
heaven.  We  must  get  us  this  -day  our  daily  bread ;  we  know 
we  cannot  be  forgiven,  for  Law  knows  no  forgiveness ;  we 
fear  not  temptation,  for  we  deliver  ourselves  from  evil;  for 
ours  is  the  Kingdom  and  ours  is  the  power,  and  thert  is  no 

167 


[VII-7]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

glory  and  no  forever.    Amen."     In  such  a  barren  prayer  the 
whole  of  man's  life  is  not  represented. 

Let  no  man  deceive  himself.  If  any  man  thinketh  that 
he  is  wise  among  you  in  this  world,  let  him  become  a  fool, 
that  he  may  become  wise.  For  the  wisdom  of  this  world 
is  foolishness  with  God.  For  it  is  written,  He  that  taketh 
the  wise  in  their  craftiness:  and  again,  The  Lord  knoweth 
the  reasonings  of  the  wise,  that  they  are  vain.  Wherefore 
let  no  one  glory  in  men.  For  all  things  are  yours;  whether 
Paul,  or  Apollos,  or  Cephas,  or  the  world,  or  life,  or 
death,  or  things  present,  or  things  to  come;  all  are  yours; 
and  ye  are  Christ's;  and  Christ  is  God's. — I  Cor.  3:  18-23. 

O  Thou  Infinite  Spirit,  who  occupiest  all  space,  who  guid- 
est  all  motion,  thyself  unchanged,  and  art  the  life  of  all  that 
lives,  we  flee  unto  thee,  in  whom  we  also  live  and  move  and 
have  our  being,  and  would  reverence  Thee  with  what  is  high- 
est and  holiest  in  our  soul.  We  know  that  Thou  art  not  to 
be  worshiped  as  though  Thou  needest  aught,  or  askedst  the 
psalm  of  praise  from  our  lips,  or  our  heart's  poor  prayer. 
O  Lord,  the  ground  under  our  feet,  and  the  seas  which  whelm 
it  round,  the  air  which  holds  them  both,  and  the  heavens 
sparkling  with  many  a  fire — these  are  a  whisper  of  the  psalm 
of  praise  which  creation  sends  forth  to  Thee,  and  we  know 
that  Thou  askest  no  homage  of  bended  knee,  nor  heart  bowed 
down,  'nor  heart  uplifted  unto  Thee.  But  in  our  feebleness 
and  our  darkness,  dependent  on  Thee  for  all  things,  we  lift 
up  our  eyes  unto  Thee;  as  a  little  child  to  the  father  and 
mother  who  guide  him  by  their  hands,  so  do  our  eyes  look  up 
to  Thy  countenance,  O  Thou  who  art  our  Father  and  our 
Mother  too,  and  bless  Thee  for  all  Thy  gifts.  We  look  to 
the  infinity  of  Thy  perfection  with  awe-touched  heart,  and 
we  adore  the  sublimity  which  we  cannot  comprehend.  We 
bow  down  before  Thee,  and  would  renew  our  sense  of 
gratitude  and  quicken  still  more  our  certainty  of  trust,  till 
we  feel  Thee  a  presence  close  to  our  heart,  and  are  so  strong 
in  the  heavenly  confidence  that  nothing  earthly  can  disturb 
us  or  make  us  fear.  Amen. — Theodore  Parker. 

Seventh  Week,  Seventh  Day 

The  difficulty  which  many  Christians  feel  concerning  science 
centers  around  their  loyalty  to  the  Bible.  They  still  are 

168 


FAITH  AND  SCIENCE 

under  the  domination  of  the  thought  that  the  Christian  idea 
of  the  Bible  is  the  same  as  the  Mohammedan  idea  of  the 
Koran  or  the  Mormon  idea  of  Joseph  Smith's  sacred  plates. 
The  Koran  was  all  written  in  heaven,  word  for  word,  say 
orthodox  Mohammedans,  before  ever  it  came  to  earth.  As 
for  the  Mormon  Bible,  God  buried  the  plates  on  which  he 
wrote,  said  Smith,  and  then  disclosed  their  hiding  place,  and 
his  prophet  translated  them  verbatim,  so  that  the  Mormon 
book  is  literally  inerrant.  But  this  is  not  the  Christian  idea 
of  the  Bible.  Inspiration  is  never  represented  in  Scripture 
as  verbal  dictation  where  human  powers  and  limitations  are 
suspended,  so  that  like  a  phonographic  plate  the  result  is  a 
mechanical  reproduction  of  the  words  of  God.  Rather  God 
spoke  to  men  through  their  experience  as  they  were  able 
to  understand  him,  and  as  a  result  the  great  Christian  Book, 
like  a  true  Christian  man,  represents  alike  the  inbreathing 
of  the  Divine  and  the  limitation  of  the  human.  So  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  clearly  states  that  God  did  what  he 
could  in  revealing  partially  to  partial  men  what  they  could 
understand : 

God,  having  of  old  time  spoken  unto  the  fathers  in  the 
prophets  by  divers  portions  and  in  divers  manners,  hath 
at  the  end  of  these  days  spoken  unto  us  in  his  Son,  whom 
he  appointed  heir  of  all  things,  through  whom  also  he 
made  the  worlds. — Heb.  i:  i,  2. 

Of  all  limitations  that  are  entirely  obvious  in  the  ancient 
Hebrew-Christian  world,  the  current  view  of  the  physical 
universe  is  the  most  unescapable.  To  suppose  that  God  never 
can  reveal  to  men  anything  about  the  world,  transcending 
what  the  ancient  Hebrews  could  understand,  is  to  deny  the 
principle  which  Jesus  applied  even  to  the  more  important 
realm  of  spiritual  truth :  "I  have  yet  many  things  to  say  unto 
you,  but  ye  cannot  bear  them  now"  (John  16:  12). 

O  Thou  who  hast  visited  us  with  the  Dayspring  from  on 
high,  who  hast  made  light  to  shine  in  the  darkness,  we  praise 
Thy  holy  name  and  proclaim  Thy  wonderful  goodness. 

IV e  bless  Thee  for  the  dawning  of  the  light  in  far-off  ages 
as  soon  as  human  eyes  could  bear  its  rays.  We  remember 
those  who  bore  aloft  the  torch  of  truth  when  all  was  false 
and  full  of  shame;  those  far-sighted  souls  who  from  the 

169 


IVII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

•mountain  tops  of  vision  heralded  the  coming  day;  those  who 
labored  in  the  darkened  valleys  to  lift  men's  eyes  to  the 
hills. 

We  thank  Thee  that  in  the  fulness  of  the  times  Thou  didst 
gather  Thy  light  into  life,  so  that  even  simple  folk  could  sec; 
for  Jesus  the  Star  of  the  morning  and  the  Light  of  the  world. 

We  commemorate  His  holy  nativity,  His  lowly  toil,  His 
lonely  way;  the  gracious  words  of  His  lips,  the  deep  com- 
passion of  His  heart,  His  friendship  for  the  fallen,  His  love 
for  the  outcast;  the  crown  of  thorns,  the  cruel  cross,  the 
open  shame.  And  we  rejoice  to  know  as  He  was  here  on 
forth,  so  Thou  art  eternally.  Thou  dost  not  abhor  our  flesh, 
nor  shrink  from  our  earthly  toil.  Thou  rememberest  our 
frailty,  bearest  with  our  sin,  and  tastest  even  our  bitter  cup 
of  death. 

And  now  we  rejoice  for  the  light  that  shines  about  our 
daily  path  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  and  for  the  light 
that  illumines  its  circuit  beyond  these  spheres  from  our  con- 
ception in  Thy  mind  to  the  day  when  we  wake  in  Thy  image; 
for  the  breathing  of  Thy  spirit  into  ours  till  we  see  Thee 
face  to  face:  in  God,  from  God;  to  God  at  last.  Hallelujah. 
Amen.—W.  E.  Orchard. 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 

I 

The  innermost  questions  which  some  minds  raise  about  re- 
ligion cannot  be  answered  without  candid  discussion  of  the 
obvious  contrasts  between  faith  and  science.  The  conflict  be- 
tween science  and  theology  is  one  of  the  saddest  stories  ever 
written.  It  is  a  record  of  mutual  misunderstanding,  of  bitter- 
ness, bigotry,  and  persecution,  and  to  this  day  one  is  likely 
to  find  the  devotees  of  religion  suspicious  of  science  and  scien- 
tists impatient  with  the  Church. 

If  we  are  to  understand  the  reason  for  this  controversy 
between  science  and  theology,  we  must  take  a  far  look  back 
into  man's  history.  Stephen  Leacock  remarks  that  whenever 
a  professor  discusses  anything,  he  has  to  retreat  at  least  2,000 
years  to  get  a  running  start.  Our  retreat  must  be  farther 
than  that ;  it  carries  us  to  the  earliest  stage  in  which  we  are 
able  to  describe  the  thoughts  of  men.  At  the  beginning  men 

170 


FAITH  AND  SCIENCE  [VII-cJ 

attributed  to  superhuman  spirits  all  activities  in  the  world 
which  they  themselves  did  not  perform.  If  the  wind  blew,  a 
spirit  did  it;  if  the  sun  rose,  a  spirit  moved  it;  if  a  storm 
came,  a  spirit  drove  it.  Natural  law  was  non-existent  to  the 
primitive  man ;  every  movement  in  nature  was  the  direct 
result  of  somebody's  active  will.  From  the  mysterious  whis- 
pering of  a  wind-swept  field  to  the  crashing  thunder,  what 
man  did  not  cause  the  gods  did. 

If,  therefore,  a  primitive  man  were  asked  the  cause  of  rain, 
he  had  but  one  answer :  a  god  made  it  rain.  That  was  his 
scientific  answer,  for  no  other  explanation  of  rain  could  he 
conceive.  That  was  his  religious  answer,  for  he  worshiped 
the  spirit  on  whom  he  must  depend  for  showers.  This  sig- 
nificant fact,  therefore,  stands  clear:  To  primitive  man  a 
religious  ansv.'cr  and  a  scientific  answer  were  identical.  Sun- 
rise was  explained,  not  by  planetary  movements  which  were 
unknown,  but  by  the  direct  activity  of  a  god,  and  the  Dawn 
then  was  worshipped  in  the  same  terms  in  which  it  was  ex- 
plained. The  historic  reason  for  the  confusion  between 
science  and  religion  at  once  grows  evident.  At  the  beginning 
they  li'cre  fused  and  braided  into  one;  the  story  of  their  re- 
lationship is  the  record  of  their  gradual  and  difficult  disen- 
tangling. 

Wherever  peace  has  come  between  science  and  religion,  one- 
finds  a  realm  where  the  boundaries  between  the  two  are 
acknowledged  and  respected.  Ask  now1  the  question,  What 
makes  it  rain?  There  is  a  scientific  answer  in  terms  of 
natural  laws  concerning  atmospheric  pressure  and  condensa- 
tion. There  is  also  a  religious  answer,  since  behind  all  laws 
and  through  them  runs  the  will  of  God.  These  two  replies 
are  distinct,  they  move  in  different  realms,  and  are  held  to- 
gether without  inconsistency.  As  Sabatier  put  it,  "Since  God' 
is  the  final  cause  of  all  things,  he  is  not  the  scientific  explana- 
tion of  any  one  thing."  In  how  many  realms  where  once  con- 
fusion reigned  between  the  believers  in  the  gods  and  the 
seekers  after  natural  laws,  is  peace  now  established !  Rain 
and  sunrise,  the  tides  and  the  eclipses,  the  coming  of  the  sea- 
sons and  the  growing  of  the  crops — for  all  such  events  we 
have  our  scientific  explanations,  and  at  the  same  time  through 
them  all  the  man  of  religion  feels  the  creative  power  of  God. 
Peace  reigns  in  these  realms  because  here  no  longer  do  ice 
force  religious  answers  on  scientific  questions  or  scientific 

i/l 


[VII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

answers  on  religious  questions.  Evidently  the  old  Deutero- 
nomic  law  is  the  solution  of  the  conflict  between  science  and 
religion :  "Cursed  be  he  that  removeth  his  neighbor's  land- 
mark" (Deut.  27:  17). 

II 

Left  thus  in  the  negative,  however,  this  might  seem  to 
mean  that  we  are  to  divide  our  minds  into  air-tight  compart- 
ments, and  allow  no  influences  from  one  to  penetrate  another. 
But  science  and  religion  do  tremendously  affect  each -other, 
and  no  honest  dealing  ever  can  endeavor  to  prevent  their 
mutual  reaction.  Our  position  is  not  thus  negative ;  it  affirms 
a  positive  and  most  important  truth.  Life  has  many  aspects  ; 
science,  art,  religion,  approach  it  from  different  angles,  with 
different  interests  and  purposes ;  and  while  they  do  influence 
each  other,  they  are  not  identical  and  each  has  solid  standing 
in  its  own  right.  When  science  has  grown  domineering,  as 
though  her  approach  to  reality  were  the  only  one  and  her 
conclusions  all  of  truth,  the  poets  have  had  as  much  distaste 
for  her  as  have  the  theologians.  Shelley,  who  called  him- 
self an  atheist,  had  no  interest  in  religion's  conflict  with  the 
extreme  claims  of  science;  yet  listen  to  his  aroused  and  flam- 
ing language  as  he  pleads  the  case  for  poetry  against  her : 
'"Poetry  is  something  divine.  .  .  .  It  is  the  perfect  and  con- 
summate surface  and  bloom  of  all  things ;  it  is  as  the  odor 
and  color  of  the  rose  to  the  texture  of  the  elements  which 
compose  it,  and  the  form  and  splendor  of  unfaded  beauty  to 
the  secrets  of  anatomy  and  corruption.  What  were  virtue, 
love,  patriotism,  friendship — what  were  the  scenery  of  this 
beautiful  universe  which  we  inhabit;  what  were  our  consola- 
tions on  this  side  of  the  grave — and  what  were  our  aspira- 
tions beyond  it,  if  poetry  did  not  ascend  to  bring  light  and 
fire  from  those  eternal  regions  where  the  owl-winged  faculty 
of  calculation  dare  not  even  soar?"  This  involves  no  denial 
of  science's  absolute  right  to  her  own  field — the  "texture  of 
the  elements  which  compose"  the  rose,  and  the  "secrets  of 
anatomy."  But  it  is  a  justified  assertion  that  this  field  of 
science  is  not  all  of  reality,  and  that  what  the  "owl-winged 
faculty  of  calculation"  can  reach  is  not  all  of  truth. 

What  is  a  sunset?  Science  sets  forth  the  answer  in  tables 
where  the  light  waves  that  compose  the  colors  are  counted 

172 


FAITH  AND  SCIENCE  [VII-c] 

and  the  planetary  movements  that  bring  on  the  dusk  are  all 
explained.  Poetry  answers  in  a  way  how  different! 

"I've  dreamed  of  sunsets  when  the  sun,  supine, 
Lay  rocking  on  the  ocean  like  a  god, 
And  threw  his  weary  arms  far  up  the  sky, 
And  with  vermilion-tinted  fingers, 
Toyed  with  the  long  tresses  of  the  evening  star."1 

Is  one  of  these  answers  more  true  than  the  other?  Rather  it 
is  absurd  to  compare  their  truth ;  they  are  not  contradictory ; 
they  approach  the  same  fact  with  diverse  interests,  and  seek 
in  it  different  aspects  of  reality.  Each  has  its  rights  in  its 
own  field.  And  so  far  is  it  from  being  true  that  science  has 
a  clear  case  in  favor  of  its  own  superior  importance,  that 
Hoffding,  the  philosopher,  remarks,  "It  well  may  be  that 
poetry  gives  more  perfect  expression  to  the  highest  Reality 
than  any  scientific  concept  can  ever  do." 

Any  great  fact  is  too  manifold  in  its  meanings  to  be  ex- 
hausted by  a  single  method  of  approach.  If  one  would  know 
the  Bible  thoroughly,  he  must  understand  the  rules  of  gram- 
mar. Were  one  to  make  grammar  his  exclusive  specialty, 
the  Bible  to  him,  so  far  as  he  held  strictly  to  his  science, 
would  be  nouns  and  verbs,  adverbs,  adjectives,  and  preposi- 
tions, and  the  law-abiding  relationships  between  them.  This 
mere  grammarian  would  know  by  such  a  method  one  aspect 
of  the  Bible,  but  how  little  of  the  Book  would  that  aspect  be! 
No  rules  of  grammar  can  interpret  the  thirteenth  chapter  of 
First  Corinthians  or  explain  the  story  of  the  Cross.  The 
facts  and  laws  of  the  Book's  language  a  grammarian  could 
know,  but  the  beauty  and  the  soul  of  it,  the  innermost  trans- 
forming truth  of  it,  would  be  unperceived. 

So  life  is  too  rich  and  various  to  be  exhausted  by  any  one 
approach.  Science  seeks  facts  and  arranges  them  in  systems 
of  cause  and  effect.  Poetry  sees  these  bare  facts  adorned 
with  beauty,  she  suffuses  them  with  her  preferences  and  her 
appreciations.  Religion  sees  the  whole  gathered  up  into 
spiritual  unity,  filled  with  moral  purpose  and  good  will,  and 
in  this  faith  finds  peace  and  power.  There  need  be  no  conflict 
between  these  various  approaches ;  they  are  complementary, 
not  antagonistic;  and  no  man  sees  all  the  truth  by  any  one 

'J.G.Holland. 

173 


THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

of  them  alone.  So  a  chemist  might  come  to  a  spring  to 
analyze  it:;  a  painter  to  rejoice  in  its  beauties  and  reproduce 
them  on  his  canvas ;  and  a  man  athirst  might  come  to  drink 
and  live.  Shall  they  quarrel  because  they  do  not  all  come 
alike?  Let  them  rather  see  how  partial  is  the  experience  of 
•each  without  the  others  1 

III 

In  the  mutual  trespassing  which  has  caused  our  problem, 
religion  has  had  her  guilty  share,  and  the  reason  is  not  difficult 
to  find.  God  did  not  have  to  give  a  modern  scientific  educa- 
tion to  his  ancient.  Hebrew  saints  before  he  could  begin  to 
reveal  to  them  something  of  his  will  and  character.  And 
they,  writing  their  experience  and  thought  of  him,  could  not 
•avoid— as  no  generation's  writers  can  avoid — indicating  the 
view  of  the  physical  world  which  they  and  their  contempo- 
raries held.  It  is  easy,  therefore,  from  scores  of  Scripture 
;passages  to  reconstruct  the  early  Hebrew  world.  Their 
•earth  was  flat  and  was  founded  on  an  underlying  sea. 
(Psalm  136:6;  Psalm  24:1,  2;  Gen.  7:11);  it  was  station- 
ary (Psalm  93:1;  Psalm  104:5);  the  heavens,  like  an  up- 
turned bowl,  "strong  as  a  molten  mirror"  (Job  37 :  18 ;  Gen. 
1:6-8;  Isa.  40:22;  Psalm  104:2),  rested  on  the  earth  beneath 
•(Amos  9:6;  Job  26:11);  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  moved 
within  this  firmament,  of  special  purpose  to  illumine  man 
(Gen.  i :  14-19)  ;  there  was  a  sea  above  the  sky,  "the  waters 
which  were  above  the  firmament"  (Gen.  1:7;  Psalm  148:4), 
:and  through  the  "windows  of  heaven"  the  rain  came  down 
(Gen.  7:11;  Psalm  78:  23)  ;  beneath  the  earth  was  mysterious 
Sheol  where  dwelt  the  shadowy  dead  (Isa.  14:9-11);  and 
;all  this  had  been  made  in  six  days,  a  short  and  measurable 
time  before  (Gen.  I).  This  was  the  world  of  the  Hebrews. 

Because  when  the  Hebrews  wrote  the  Bible  their  thoughts 
-of  God,  their  deep  experience  of  him,  were  interwoven  with 
their  early  science,  Christians,  through  the  centuries,  have 
thought  that  faith  in  God  stood  or  fell  with  early  Hebrew 
science  and  that  the  Hebrew  view  of  the  physical  universe 
must  last  forever.  In  the  seventeenth  century,  Dr.  John 
Lightfoot,  Vice-Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
said :  "Heaven  and  earth,  center  and  circumference,  were 
created  all  together,  in  the  same  instant,  and  clouds  full  of 

174 


FAITH  AND  SCIENCE  [VII-c] 

water.  .  .  .  This  work  took  place  and  man  was  created 
by  the  Trinity  on  October  23,  4004  B.  C,  at  nine  o'clock  in 
the  morning."  Of  what  tragedy  has  this  identification  of 
science  with  religion  been  the  cause ! 

When  astronomy  began  to  revolutionize  man's  idea  of  the 
solar  universe,  when  for  the  first  time  in  man's  imagination 
the  flat  earth  grew  round  and  the  stable  earth  began  moving 
through  space  seventy-five  times  faster  than  a  cannon-ball. 
Pope  Paul  V  solemnly  rendered  a  decree,  that  "the  doctrine 
of  the  double  motion  of  the  earth  about  its  axis  and  about 
the  sun  is  false  and  entirely  contrary  to  Holy  Scripture." 
When  geology  began  to  show  from  the  rocks'  unimpeachable 
testimony  the  long  leisureliness  of  God,  laying  the  founda- 
tions of  the  world,  a  Christian  leader  declared  geology  "not 
a  subject  of  lawful  inquiry,"  "a  dark  art,"  "dangerous  and  dis- 
reputable," "a  forbidden  province,"  "an  awful  evasion  of  the 
testimony  of  revelation."  This  tragic  record  of  theology's 
vain  conflict  with  science  is  the  most  pitiable  part  of  the 
Church's  story.  How  needless  it  was !  For  now  when  we 
face  our  universe  of  magnificent  distances  and  regal  laws  has 
religion  really  suffered  ?  Has  a  flat  and  stationary  earth 
proved  essential  to  Christianity,  as  Protestants  and  Catholics 
alike  declared?  Rather  the  Psalmist  could  not  guess  the 
sweep  of  our  meaning  when  now  we  say,  "The  heavens  declare 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  firmament  showeth  his  handiwork" 
(Psalm  19:  i). 

In  the  last  generation  the  idea  of  evolution  was  the  occa- 
sion of  a  struggle  like  that  which  attended  the  introduction 
of  the  new  astronomy.  How  was  the  world  made?  asked 
the  ancient  Hebrew,  and  he  answered,  By  the  word  of  God 
at  a  stroke.  That  was  his  scientific  answer,  and  his  religious 
answer  too.  When,  therefore,  the  evolving  universe  was  dis- 
closed by  modern  science,  when  men  read  in  fossil  and  in 
living  biological  structure  the  undeniable  evidence  of  a  long 
history  of  gradually  changing  forms  of  life,  until  the  world 
was  seen  not  made  like  a  box  but  groicing  like  a  tree,  many 
men  of  religion  thought  the  faith  destroyed.  They  identified 
the  Christian  Gospel  with  early  Hebrew  science!  Today, 
however,  when  the  general  idea  of  evolution  is  taken  for 
granted  as  gravitation  is,  how  false  this  identification  ob- 
viously appears !  Says  Professor  Bowne,  "An  Eastern  king 
was  seated  in  a  garden,  and  one  of  his  counselors  was  speak- 

175 


[VII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

ing  of  the  wonderful  works  of  God.  'Show  me  a  sign/  said 
the  king,  'and  I  will  believe.'  'Here  are  four  acorns,"  said  the 
counselor;  'will  your  Majesty  plant  them  in  the  ground,  and 
then  stoop  down  and  look  into  this  clear  pool  of  water?'  The 
king  did  so.  'Now,'  said  the  other,  'Look  up.'  The  king 
looked  up  and  saw  four  oak  trees  where  he  had  planted  the 
acorns.  'Wonderful !'  he  exclaimed ;  'this  is  indeed  the  work 
of  God.'  'How  long  were  you  looking  into  the  water?'  asked 
the  counselor.  'Only  a  second,'  said  the  king.  'Eighty  years 
have  passed  as  a  second,'  said  the  other.  The  king  looked 
at  his  garments ;  they  were  threadbare.  He  looked  at  his 
reflection  in  the  water ;  he  had  becorne  an  old  man.  'There  is 
no  miracle  here,  then,'  he  said  angrily.  'Yes,'  said  the  other ; 
'it  is  God's  work  whether  he  do  it  in  one  second  or  in  eighty 
years.' " 

Such  an  attitude  as  this  is  now  a  commonplace  with  Chris- 
tian folk.  A  vast  and  growing  universe  through  which  sweep 
the  purposes  of  God  is  by  far  the  most  magnificent  outlook 
for  faith  that  man  has  ever  had.  The  Gospel  and  Hebrew 
science  are  not  identical;  the  Gospel  is  not  indissolubly  bound 
to  any  science  ancient  or  modern ;  for  science  and  religion 
have  separable  domains. 

"A  fire-mist  and  a  planet, 

A  crystal  and  a  cell, 
A  jelly-fish  and  a  saurian, 

And  caves  where  cave  men  dwell. 
Then   a   sense  of   Love  and   Duty 

And  a  face  turned  from  the  clod, 
Some  call  it  Evolution 

And  others — call  it  God." 

The  same  story  of  needless  antagonism  is  now  being  written 
about  religion  and  natural  law.  When  science  began  plotting 
nature's  laws,  the  control  of  the  world  seemed  to  be  snatched 
from  the  hands  of  deity  and  given  over  to  a  system  of  im- 
personal rules.  God,  whose  action  had  been  defined  in  terms 
of  miracle,  was  forced  from  one  realm  after  another  by  the 
discovery  of  laws,  until  at  last  even  comets  were  found  to 
be  not  whimsical  but  as  regular  in  their  law-abiding  courses 
as  the  planets,  and  God  seemed  to  be  escorted  to  the  edge  of 
the  universe  and  bowed  out.  When  Newton  first  formulated 

176 


FAITH  AND  SCIENCE  [VII-c] 

the  law  of  gravitation,  the  artillery  of  many  an  earnest  pul- 
pit was  let  loose  against  him.  One  said  that  Newton  took 
"from  God  that  direct  action  on  his  works  so  constantly 
ascribed  to  him  in  Scripture  and  transferred  it  to  material 
mechanism"  and  that  he  "substituted  gravitation  for  Provi- 
dence." But  now,  when  science  has  so  plainly  won  her  case, 
in  her  own  proper  field;  when  we  know  to  our  glory  and 
profit  so  many  laws  by  which  the  world  is  governed,  and  use 
our  knowledge  as  the  most  splendid  engine  of  personal  pur- 
pose and  freedom  which  man  ever  had,  we  see  how  great  our 
gain  has  been.  Nor  is  it  more  a  practical  than  a  religious 
S/ain.  God  once  was  thought  of  chiefly  in  terms  of  miraculous 
action ;  he  came  into  his  world  now  and  again,  like  the  deus- 
c.r-inachina  of  a  Greek  tragedy,  to  solve  a  critical  dilemma  in 
the  plot.  Now  all  the  laws  we  know  and  many  more  are  his 
regular  ways  of  action,  and  through  them  all  continuously  his 
purpose  is  being  wrought.  As  Henry  Drummond  exclaimed, 
"If  God  appears  periodically,  he  disappears  periodically.  If 
he  comes  upon  the  scene  at  special  crises,  he  is  absent  from 
the  scene  in  the  intervals.  Whether  is  all-God  or  occasional 
God  the  nobler  theory?" 

Nothing,  therefore,  can  be  more  pathetic  than  the  self-styled 
"defenders  of  the  faith"  who  withstand  the  purpose  of  rever- 
ent students  to  give  scientific  answers  to  scientific  questions. 
Such  men  are  not  really  defending  the  faith.  They  are  doing 
exactly  what  Father  Inchofer  did  when  he  said,  "The  opinion 
that  the  earth  moves  is  of  all  heresies  the  most  abominable" ; 
what  Mr.  Gosse  did  when  he  maintained,  in  explanation  of 
geology's  discoveries,  that  God  by  the  use  of  stratified  rock 
and  fossils  deliberately  gave  the  earth  the  appearance  of  de- 
velopment through  long  ages,  while  really  he  made  it  in  six 
days ;  what  Mr.  Southall  did  when,  in  the  face  of  established 
anthropology,  he  claimed  that  the  "Egyptians  had  no  Stone 
age  and  were  born  civilized" ;  what  the  Dean  of  Chichester 
did  when  he  preached  that  "those  who  refuse  to  accept  the 
history  of  the  creation  of  our  first  parents  according  to  its 
obvious  literal  intention,  and  are  for  substituting  the  modern 
dream  of  evolution  in  its  place,  cause  the  entire  scheme  of 
man's  salvation  to  collapse."  These  were  not  defending  the 
faith ;  they  were  making  it  ridiculous  in  the  eyes  of  intelligent 
men  and  were  embroiling  religion  in  controversies  where  she 
did  not  belong  and  where,  out  of  her  proper  realm,  she  was 

177 


[VII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

foredoomed  to  defeat.  For  scientific  problems  are  not  a 
matter  for  faith;  they  are  a  matter  for  investigation.  No  one 
can  settle  by  faith  the  movements  of  the  planets,  the  method 
of  the  earth's  formation,  the  age  of  mankind,  the  explanation 
of  comets.  These  lie  in  science's  realm,  not  in  religion's,  and 
religious  faith  demeans  herself  when  she  tries  to  settle  them. 
Let  science  be  the  grammarian  of  the  world  to  observe  its 
parts  of  speech  and  their  relations !  Religion  deals  with  the 
soul  of  the  world,  its  deepest  source,  its  spiritual  meaning, 
its  divine  purpose. 

IV 

Science,  however,  has  not  always  been  content  with  the 
grammarian's  task.  When  we  have  frankly  confessed  reli- 
gion's sins  in  trespassing  on  scientific  territory,  we  must  note 
that  science  has  her  guilty  share  in  the  needless  conflict. 
Today  one  suspects  that  the  Church's  vain  endeavor  by  ec- 
clesiastical authority  to  force  religious  solutions  on  scientific 
problems  is  almost  over.  But  the  attempt  of  many  scientists 
to  claim  the  whole  field  of  reality  as  theirs  and  to  force  their 
solutions  on  every  sort  of  problem  is  not  yet  finished.  This, 
too,  is  a  vain  endeavor.  To  suppose  that  the  process  of  scien- 
tific observation  and  inference  can  exhaust  the  truth  of  life  is 
like  supposing  that  there  is  no  more  meaning  in  Westminster 
Abbey  than  is  expressed  in  Baedeker. 

Scientists,  for  example,  sometimes  claim  domains  which  are 
not  theirs  by  spelling  abstract  nouns  with  capitals,  by  posit- 
ing Law  or  Evolution  as  the  makers  and  builders  of  the  world. 
But  law  never  did  anything ;  law  is  only  man's  statement  of  the 
way,  according  to  his  observation,  in  which  things  are  done. 
To  explain  the  universe  as  the  creation  of  Law  is  on  a  par 
with  explaining  homes  as  the  creation  of  Matrimony.  Ab- 
stract nouns  do  not  create  anything  and  the  capitalizing  of 
a  process  never  can  explain  it.  So,  too,  Evolution  does 
nothing  to  the  world;  it  is  the  way  in  which  whoever  makes 
the  world  is  making  it.  As  well  explain  the  difference  between 
an  acorn  and  an  oak  by  saying  that  Growth  did  it,  as  to  ex- 
plain the  progress  of  creation  from  Stardust  to  civilization  by 
changing  e  to  E.  Science  may  describe  the  process  as  evolu- 
tionary, but  its  source,  its  moving  power,  and  its  destiny  are 
utterly  beyond  her  ken. 

For  another   thing,    scientists   often   invade   realms   which 

178 


FAITH  AND  SCIENCE  [VII-c] 

are  not  theirs,  by  stretching  the  working  theories  of  some 
special  science  to  the  proportions  of  a  complete  philosophy  of 
life.  A  generation  ago,  when  geology  and  biology  were  in 
their  "green  and  salad  days,"  the  enthusiasm  inspired  by  the 
splendid  results  of  their  hypotheses  went  to  strange  lengths. 
One  professor  of  geology  seriously  explained  the  pyramids 
of  Egypt  to  be  the  remains  of  volcanic  eruption  which  had 
forced  its  way  upwards  by  slow  and  stately  motion.  The 
hieroglyphs  were  crystalline  formations  and  the  shaft  of 
the  great  pyramid  was  the  airhole  of  a  volcano.  Scientists  are 
human  like  all  men ;  their  specialties  loom  large ;  the  ideas  that 
work  in  their  limited  areas  seem  omnipotent.  So  a  student  of 
the  influence  of  sunlight  on  life  thinks  reactions  to  the  sun 
explain  everything.  "Heliotropism,"  he  says,  "doubtless 
wrote  Hamlet."  A  specialist  on  the  influence  of  geography  on 
human  nature  interprets  everything  as  the  reaction  of  man  to 
seas,  mountains,  plains,  and  deserts,  and  Lombroso  even  thinks 
the  revolutionary  temperament  especially  native  to  men  who 
live  on  limestone  formations !  Specialists  in  economic  history 
are  sure  that  man  is  little  more  than  an  animated  nucleus  of 
hunger  and  that  all  life  is  explicable  as  a  search  for  food. 
And  psychologists,  charmed  by  the  neatness  of  description 
which  causal  connections  introduce  into  our  inner  life,  leap 
to  the  conclusion,  which  lies  outside  their  realm,  that  person- 
ality is  an  illusion,  freedom  a  myth  and  our  mental  life  the 
rattling  of  a  causal  chain  forged  and  set  in  motion  when  the 
universe  began.  All  this  is  not  science;  it  is  making  hypo- 
theses from  a  limited  field  of  facts  masquerade  as  a  total 
philosophy  of  life. 

The  underlying  reason  why  science,  when  she  regards  her 
province  as  covering  everything,  inevitably  clashes  with  the 
interests  of  religion,  is  that  she  starts  her  view  of  the  world 
from  the  sub-human  side.  The  typical  sciences  are  physics, 
chemistry,  astronomy,  geology,  biology,  and  the  view  of  the 
universe  which  they  present  is  the  basis  on  which  all  other 
sciences  proceed.  But  this  foundation  is  sub-human ;  the 
master  ideas  involved  in  it  are  all  obtained  with  the  life  of 
man  left  out  of  account.  Such  an  approach  presents  a  world- 
machine,  immense  and  regular,  and  when,  later,  psychology 
and  sociology  arise,  how  easy  it  is  to  call  the  human  life  which 
they  study  a  by-product  of  the  sub-human  world,  an  exuda- 
tion arising  from  the  activities  of  matter. 

179 


[VII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

Religion,  on  the  contrary,  starts  with  human  life.  Fall 
down  in  awe,  Science  cries,  before  this  vast  sub-human 
world !  And  the  religious  man  answers :  What  world  is  this  I 
am  to  bow  before?  Is  it  not  the  universe  which  my  mind 
knows  and  whose  laws  my  intellect  has  grasped?  This  uni- 
verse, so  far  as  it  exists  at  all  for  me,  is  apprehended  by  my 
vision,  penetrated  by  my  thought,  encompassed  by  my  inter- 
pretations. What  is  really  great  and  wonderful  here,  is  not 
the  world  which  I  understand,  but  the  mind  that  understands 
it — not  the  sub-human  but  the  human.  Man  himself  is  the 
supreme  Fact,  and  all  the  world  that  man  could  bow  before, 
man's  mind  must  first  of  all  contain.  The  master  truth  is 
not  that  my  mind  exists  within  a  physical  universe,  but  that 
the  physical  universe  is  encompassed  by  my  mind.  There- 
fore, when  I  interpret  life,  I  will  start  with  man,  and  not  with 
what  lies  below  him. 

Romanes,  the  English  scientist,  illustrates  in  his  experience 
the  difference  which  these  two  approaches  make.  When,  re- 
turning from  agnosticism  to  Christianity,  he  explained  his 
lapse,  he  said,  "I  did  not  sufficiently  appreciate  the  immense 
importance  of  human  nature,  as  distinguished  from  phys- 
ical nature,  in  any  inquiry  touching  theism.  .  .  .  Human 
nature  is  the  most  important  part  of  nature  as  a  whole 
whereby  to  investigate  the  theory  of  theism.  This  I  ought 
to  have  anticipated  on  merely  a  priori  grounds,  had  I  not 
been  too  much  immersed  in  merely  physical  research."  Of 
how  many  now  does  this  same  explanation  hold !  They 
segregate  man  from  the  rest  of  the  universe,  and  endeavor 
an  interpretation  of  the  unhuman  remainder.  They  forget 
that  man  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  universe,  bone  of  its  bone, 
as  imperative  an  expression  of  its  substantial  nature  as  are 
rocks  and  stars,  and  that  any  philosophy  which  interprets  the 
world  minus  man  has  not  interpreted  the  world. 

Here  is  the  difference  between  a  Haeckel  and  a  Phillips 
Brooks.  All  the  dominant  ideas  of  the  one  are  drawn  from 
existence  minus  man ;  all  the  controlling  convictions  of  the 
other  are  drawn  from  the  heights  and  depths  of  man's  own 
life.  The  first  approach  inevitably  leads  to  irreligion,  for 
Spirit  cannot  reveal  itself  except  in  spirit  and  until  one  has 
found  God  in  man  he  will  not  find  him  in  nature.  The  second 
as  certainly  leads  to  religion,  for,  as  Augustine  said,  "If  you 
dig  deep  enough  in  every  man  you  find  divinity."  Over 

180 


FAITH  AND  SCIENCE  [VII-c] 

against  the  testimony  of  the  sub-human  that  there  is  a  mechan- 
istic aspect  to  the  world,  stands  the  unalterable  testimony  of 
the  human  that  there  is  as  well  an  ideal,  purposive,  and  spir- 
itual aspect  to  the  world.  Surely  the  latter  brings  us  nearer 
to  the  heart  of  truth.  We  never  understand  anything  except 
in  terms  of  its  highest  expression  and  man  is  the  summit  of 
nature. 

Could  religion  find  a  voice,  therefore,  she  would  wish  to 
speak  not  in  terms  of  apology  but  of  challenge,  when  science, 
assuming  all  of  reality  for  its  field,  grows  arrogant.  Describe 
the  aspect  of  the  world  that  belongs  to  you,  she  would  say. 
I  have  learned  my  lesson ;  your  field  is  yours,  and  no  inter- 
ference at  my  hands  shall  trouble  you  again.  But  remember 
the  limitations  of  your  domain — to  observe  and  describe  phe- 
nomena and  to  plot  their  laws.  That  is  an  immense  task  and 
inexpressibly  useful.  But  when  you  have  completed  it,  the 
total  result  will  be  as  unlike  the  real  world  as  a  medical  man- 
ikin with  his  wire  nerves  and  painted  muscles  is  unlike  a  real 
man.  The  manikin  is  sufficiently  correct;  everything  is  truly 
pictured  there — except  life.  So  things  are  as  science  sees 
them,  but  things  are  more  than  science  sees.  Plot  then  the 
mechanistic  aspect  of  the  world,  but  do  not  suppose  that  you 
have  caught  all  of  truth  in  that  wide-meshed  net!  When 
you  have  said  your  last  word  on  facts  observed  and  laws  in- 
duced, man  rises  up  to  ask  imperious  questions  with  which 
you  cannot  deal,  to  present  urgent  problems  for  which  no 
solution  ever  has  been  found  save  Augustine's,  "I  seek  for 
God  in  order  that  my  soul  may  live." 


Our  thought  so  ended,  however,  would  leave  science  and 
religion  jealously  guarding  their  boundaries,  not  cooperating 
as  allies.  Such  suspicious  recognition  of  each  other's  realms 
does  not  exhaust  the  possibilities.  When  once  the  separate 
functions  each  by  the  other  have  been  granted,  we  are  free 
to  turn  our  thought  to  the  inestimable  service  which  each  is 
rendering.  Consider  the  usefulness  of  science  to  the  ideal 
causes  of  which  religion  is  the  chief !  Science  has  given  us 
the  new  universe,  not  more  marvelous  in  its  vastness  than  in 
its  unity.  For  the  spectroscope  has  shown  that  everywhere 
through  immeasurable  space  the  same  chemical  properties  and 

181 


[VII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

laws  obtain ;  the  telescope  has  revealed  with  what  mathe- 
matical precision  the  orbits  in  the  heavens  are  traced  and  how 
unwaveringly  here  or  among  the  stars  gravitation  maintains 
its  hold.  Man  never  had  so  immense  and  various  and  yet 
so  single  and  unified  a  world  before.  Polytheism  once  was 
possible,  but  science  has  banished  it  forever.  Whatever  may 
be  the  source  of  the  universe,  it  is  one  Source,  and  whoever 
the  creator,  he  is  more  glorious  in  man's  imagination  than  he 
could  ever  have  been  before.  Science  also  has  put  at  the 
disposal  of  the  ideal  causes  such  instruments  as  by  them- 
selves they  would  never  have  possessed.  We  are  hoping  for 
a  new  world-brotherhood,  and  we  pray  for  it  in  Christian 
churches  as  the  Father's  will.  But  the  instruments  by  which 
the  inter-racial  fellowship  must  be  maintained  and  without 
which  it  would  be  unthinkable  are  science's  gift.  Railroads, 
steamships,  telegraphs,  telephones,  wireless — these  are  the 
shuttles  by  which  the  ideal  faiths  in  man's  fraternity  may  be 
woven  into  fact.  When  Christian  physicians  heal  the  sick  or 
stamp  out  plagues  that  for  ages  have  been  man's  curse  and 
his  despair,  when  social  maladjustments  are  corrected  by 
Christian  philanthropy,  and  saner,  happier  ways  of  living  are 
made  possible;  when  comforts  that  once  were  luxuries  are 
brought  within  the  reach  of  all,  and  man's  life  is  relieved  of 
crushing  handicaps ;  when  old  superstitions  that  had  filled 
man's  life  with  dread  for  ages  are  driven  like  fogs  before 
science's  illumination,  and  religious  faith  is  freed  of  their  in- 
cumbrance ;  when  great  causes  of  relief  have  at  their  disposal 
the  unimaginable  wealth  which  our  modern  economic  system 
has  created — can  anyone  do  sufficient  justice  to  man's  debt  to 
science?  And  once  more  science  has  done  religion  an  in- 
estimable service  in  establishing  as  a  point  of  honor  the  ambi- 
tion to  see  straight  and  to  report  exactly.  The  tireless  pa- 
tience, the  inexorable  honesty,  the  sacrificial  heroism  of 
scientists,  pursuing  truth,  is  a  gift  of  incalculable  magnitude. 
Huxley  is  typical  of  science  at  its  best  when  he  writes  in  his 
journal  his  ideal — "To  smite  all  humbugs  however  big;  to  give 
a  nobler  tone  to  science;  to  set  an  example  of  abstinence 
from  petty  personal  controversies  and  of  toleration  for  every- 
thing but  lying;  to  be  indifferent  as  to  whether  the  work  is 
recognized  as  mine  or  not,  so  long  as  it  is  done."  Countless 
obscurantisms  and  bigotries,  shams  and  sophistries  have  been 
driven  from  the  churches  by  this  scientific  spirit  and  more 

182 


FAITH  AND  SCIENCE  [VII-c] 

are  yet  to  go.  Science  has  shown  intellectual  dishonesty  to 
be  a  sin  of  the  first  rank.  Christianity  never  can  be  thankful 
enough  for  science;  on  our  knees  we  should  be  grateful  for 
her  as  one  of  God's  most  indispensable  gifts.  Nor  should 
the  fact  that  many  a  scientist  whose  contributions  we  rejoice 
in  was  not  certain  about  God  defer  our  gratitude.  Cyrus,  the 
Persian,  is  not  the  only  one  to  whom  the  Eternal  has  said,  "I 
will  gird  thee,  though  thou  hast  not  known  me"  (Isa.  45:  5). 

When,  however,  science  has  done  her  necessary  work,  she 
needs  her  great  ally,  religion.  Without  the  insight  and  hope 
which  faith  alone  can  bring,  we  learn  a  little  about  the  world, 
our  minds  enclosed  in  boundaries  beyond  which  is  dark,  un- 
fathomable mystery.  We  rejoice  in  nature's  beauty  and  in 
friendship,  suffer  much  with  broken  bodies  and  more  with 
broken  family  ties,  until  we  die  as  we  were  born — the  spawn 
of  mindless,  soulless  powers  that  never  purposed  us  and  never 
cared.  And  the  whole  universe  is  purposeless,  engaged  with 
blind  hands,  that  have  no  mind  behind  them,  on  tasks  that 
mean  nothing  and  are  never  done.  Science  and  religion  should 
not  be  antagonists ;  they  are  mutually  indispensable  allies  in. 
the  understanding  and  mastery  of  life. 


183 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Faith   and    Moods 

DAILY  READINGS 

The  relationship  of  faith  to  feeling,  rather  than  faith's 
relationship  to  mind,  is  with  many  people  the  more  vital  in- 
terest. The  emotional  results  of  faith  are  rightfully  of  in- 
tense concern  to  everyone,  for  our  feelings  put  the  sense 
of  value  into  life.  To  see  a  sunset  without  being  stirred  by 
its  beauty  is  to  miss  seeing  the  sunset;  to  have  friends  with- 
out feeling  love  for  them  is  not  to  have  friends ;  and  to 
possess  life  without  feeling  it  to  be  gloriously  worth  while 
is  to  miss  living.  Now,  in  this  regard,  the  attitude  of  faith 
stands  sharply  opposed  to  its  direct  contrary — the  attitude 
of  fear.  Faith  and  fear  are  the  two  emotional  climates,  in 
one  or  the  other  of  which  everyone  tends  habitually  to  live. 
To  the  comparison  of  these  we  set  ourselves  in  the  daily 
readings. 

Eighth  Week,  First  Day 

Give  ear  to  my  prayer,  O  God; 

And  hide  not  thyself  from  my  supplication. 

Attend  unto  me,  and  answer  me: 

I  am  restless  in  my  complaint,  and  moan, 

Because  of  the  voice  of  the  enemy, 

Because  of  the  oppression  of  the  wicked; 

For  they  cast  iniquity  upon  me, 

And  in  anger  they  persecute  me. 

My  heart  is  sore  pained  within  me: 

And  the  terrors  of  death  are  fallen  upon  me. 

Fearfulness  and  trembling  are  come  upon  me, 

And  horror  hath  overwhelmed  me. 

And  I  said,  Oh  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove! 

Then  would  I  fly  away,  and  be  at  rest. 

Lo,  then  would  I  wander  far  off, 

I  would  lodge  in  the  wilderness. 

—Psalm  55:  1-7. 
184 


FAITH  AND  MOODS  [VIII-i] 

How  many  people  are  slaves  to  the  mood  from  which  this 
psalmist  suffered !  'Tearfulness  and  trembling"  are  their 
habitual  attitude  toward  life.  They  fear  to  die  and  just  as 
much  they  fear  to  live;  before  every  vexatious  problem,  be- 
fore every  opposing  obstacle,  even  before  the  common  tasks 
and  responsibilities  of  daily  living,  they  stand  in  dread;  and 
every  piece  of  work  is  done  by  them  at  least  three  times — 
in  previous  worry,  in  anxious  performance,  and  in  regret- 
ful retrospect.  Such  fear  imprisons  the  soul.  No  two  men 
really  live  in  the  same  world ;  for  while  the  outward  geogra- 
phy may  be  identical,  the  real  environment  of  each  soul  is 
created  by  our  moods,  tempers,  and  habits  of  thought.  Fear 
builds  a  prison  about  the  man,  and  bars  him  in  with  dreads, 
anxieties,  and  timid  doubts.  And  the  man  will  live  forever 
in  that  prison  unless  faith  sets  him  free.  Faith  is  the  great 
liberator.  The  psalmist  who  found  himself  a  prisoner  of 
"fearfulness  and  trembling"  obtained  his  liberty  and  became 
a  "soul  in  peace"  (v.  18)  ;  and  the  secret  of  his  freedom 
he  revealed  in  the  closing  words  of  his  psalm — "But  I  will 
trust  in  Thee."  Faith  of  some  sort  is  the  only  power  that 
ever  sets  men  free  from  the  bondage  of  their  timidities  and 
dreads.  If  a  man  is  the  slave  of  fearfulness,  there  is  no 
substance  in  his  claim  to  be  a  man  of  faith ;  a  man  who  has 
vital  faith  is  not  habitually  fearful.  And  as  Emerson  said, 
"He  has  not  learned  the  lesson  of  life  who  does  not  every 
day  surmount  a  fear." 

O  God,  we  remember  with  sadness  our  want  of  faith  in- 
Thee.  What  might  have  been  a  garden  we  have  turned  into 
a  desert  by  our  sin  and  wilfulness.  This  beautiful  life  which 
Thou  hast  given  us  we  have  wasted  in  futile  worries  and  vain 
regrets  and  empty  fears.  Instead  of  opening  our  eyes  to  the 
joy  of  life,  the  joy  that  shines  in  the  leaf,  the  flower,  the 
face  of  an  innocent  child,  and  rejoicing  in  it  as  in  a  sacra- 
ment, we  have  sunk  back  into  the  complainings  of  our  narrow 
and  blinded  souls.  O  deliver  us  from  the  bondage  of  un- 
chastened  desires  and  unwholesome  thoughts.  Help  us  to 
conquer  hopeless  brooding  and  faithless  reflection,  and  the 
impatience  of  irritable  weakness.  To  this  end,  increase  our 
faith,  O  Lord.  Fill  us  with  a  completer  trust  in  Thee,  and 
the  desire  for  a  more  whole-hearted  surrender  to  Thy  will. 
Then  every  sorrow  will  become  a  joy.  Then  shall  we  say 

185 


[VIII-2]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

to  the  mountains  that  lie  heavy  on  our  souls,  "Remove  and 
be  cast  hence,"  and  they  shall  remove,  and  nothing  shall  be 
impossible  unto  us.  Then  shall  we  renew  our  strength,  and 
mount  up  with  wings  as  eagles;  we  shall  run  and  not  be 
weary;  we  shall  walk  and  not  faint.  We  offer  this  prayer 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Amen. — Samuel 
McComb. 

Eighth  Week,  Second  Day 

Not  only  is  it  true  that  fear  imprisons  while  faith  liberates ; 
fear  paralyses  and  faith  empowers.  The  only  attitude  in 
which  a  man  has  command  of  his  faculties  and  is  at  his 
best,  is  the  attitude  of  faith ;  while  fear  bewilders  the  mind 
and  paralyzes  the  will.  The  physical  effects  of  fear  are 
deadly;  it  positively  inhibits  any  useful  thinking;  and  in  the 
,piritual  life  its  results  are  utterly  demoralizing.  Fear  is 
the  panic  of  a  soul.  Consider  such  an  estate  as  the  author 
of  Deuteronomy  presents : 

And  among  these  nations  shalt  thou  find  no  ease,  and 
there  shall  be  no  rest  for  the  sole  of  thy  foot:  but  Jehovah 
will  give  thee  there  a  trembling  heart,  and  failing  of  eyes, 
and  pining  of  soul;  and  thy  life  shall  hang  in  doubt  be- 
fore thee;  and  thou  shalt  fear  night  and  day,  and  shalt 
have  no  assurance  of  thy  life.  In  the  morning  thou 
shalt  say,  Would  it  were  even!  and  at  even  thou  shalt 
say,  Would  it  were  morning!  for  the  fear  of  thy  heart 
which  thou  shalt  fear,  and  for  the  sight  of  thine  eyes 
which  thou  shalt  see. — Deut.  28:  65-67. 

% 

Such  a  situation  oppresses  every  vital  power,  and  the  con- 
quest of  such  a  situation  must  always  be  inward  before  it 
can  be  outward ;  the  man  must  pass  from  fear  to  faith.  Let 
even  a  little  faith  arise  in  him,  and  power  begins  to  return. 
Men  fear  that  they  cannot  overcome  evil  habits,  that  they 
cannot  successfully  meet  difficult  situations,  that  they  can- 
not hold  out  in  the  Christian  life,  and  that  great  causes  can- 
not be  fought  through  to  victory — and  the  weakness  which 
appalls  them  is  the  creation  of  their  own  misgiving. 

"Our  doubts  are  traitors, 
And  make  us  lose  the  good  we  oft  might  win, 
By  fearing  to  attempt." 
186 


FAITH  AND  MOODS  [VIII-3] 

But  faith  is  tonic;  the  results  which  follow  a  change  of 
heart  from  fear  to  faith  are  miraculous ;  spiritual  dwarfs  grow 
to  giants  and  achieve  successes  that  before  would  have  been 
unbelievable.  No  verse  in  Scripture  has  behind  it  a  greater 
mass  of  verifiable  experience  than :  "This  is  the  victory  that 
hath  overcome  the  world,  even  our  faith"  (I  John  5:4). 

Gracious  Father,  Thou  hast  invited  us,  unworthy  as  we  are, 
to  pray  for  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  .  .  .  We  pray 
for  all  who  are  in  bondage  to  fear,  unable  to  face  the  tasks 
of  life  or  bear  the  thought  of  death  with  peace  and  dignity. 
Free  them  from  the  tyranny  of  these  dark  dreads.  Let  the 
inspiration  of  a  great  faith  or  hope  seise  their  souls,  and  lift 
them  above  their  fruitless  worry  and  idle  torments,  into  a 
region  of  joy  and  peace  and  blessedness.  We  pray  for  the 
victims  of  evil  habits,  the  slaves  of  alcohol  or  morphine,  or 
any  other  pretended  redeemer  of  the  soul  from  weariness  and 
pain.  Great  is  the  power  of  these  degrading  temptations; 
but  greater  still  is  the  saving  energy  of  Thy  Spirit.  So  let 
Thy  Spirit  enter  the  hearts  of  these  unhappy  children  of 
Thine,  that  their  will  may  be  made  strong  to  resist,  and  that 
the  burning  heat  of  high  thoughts  may  consume  the  grosser 
desires  of  the  ftesh.  We  pray  for  souls  bound  beneath  self- 
imposed  burdens,  vexed  by  miseries  of  their  own  making; 
for  the  children  of  melancholy,  who  have  lost  their  way  and 
grope  without  a  light;  for  those  who  do  their  work  with 
no  enthusiasm,  and,  when  night  falls,  can  find  no  sleep  though 
they  search  for  it  as  for  hidden  treasure.  Let  Thy  light  pierce 
through  their  gloom  and  shine  upon  their  path.  .  .  . 

Unite  us  to  Jesus  Christ,  Thy  perfect  Son,  in  the  bonds  of 
a  living  trust,  so  that  sustained  by  His  example,  and  sancti- 
fied by  His  Spirit,  we  may  grow  more  and  more  into  the 
image  of  His  likeness.  These,  and  all  other  blessings,  we 
ask  in  His  name  and  for  His  sake.  Amen. — Samuel  McComb. 

Eighth  Week,  Third  Day 

There  are  many  situations  in  life  which  naturally  throw 
the  pall  of  dread  over  man's  soul.  Life  is  seldom  easy,  it  is 
often  overwhelmingly  difficult,  and  if  a  man  has  worry  in 
his  temperament,  circumstances  supply  plenty  of  occasions 
on  which  to  exercise  it.  The  difference  between  men  lies 
here :  those  in  whom  the  fear-attitude  is  master  hold  the  op- 

187 


IVIII-3]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

pressive  trouble  so  close  to  the  eye  that  it  hides  everything 
«lse ;  those  whom  the  faith-attitude  dominates  hold  trouble 
off  and  see  it  in  wide  perspectives.  A  copper  cent  can  hide 
the  sun  if  we  hold  it  close  enough  to  the  eye,  and  a  transient 
difficulty  can  shut  out  from  a  fearful  soul  all  life's  large 
blessings  and  all  the  horizons  of  divine  good  will.  Fear 
disheartens  men  by  concentrating  their  attention  on  the  un- 
happy aspects  of  life;  but  faith  is  the  great  encourager. 
Whittier  lived  in  a  generation  full  of  turmoil  and  trouble, 
and  his  own  life  is  a  story  of  prolonged  struggle  against  ill- 
ness, disappointments,  and  poverty.  But,  listen : 

"Yet  sometimes  glimpses  on  my  sight 
Through  present  wrong,  the  eternal  right; 
And,  step  by  step,  since  time  began 
I  see  the  steady  gain  of  man." 

That  is  the  attitude  of  faith ;  it  does  not  deny  the  evil,  but 
it  sees  around  it,  refuses  to  be  obsessed  or  scared  by  it,  and 
takes  heart  from  a  large  view  when  a  small  view  would  be 
appalling.  And  history  always  confirms  the  large  view.  Fear 
may  be  right  for  the  moment,  but  in  the  long  run  it  is  a  liar ; 
only  faith  tells  the  truth. 

Be  merciful  unto  me,  O  God;  for  man  would  swallow  me 

up: 

All  the  day  long  he  fighting  oppresseth  me. 
Mine  enemies  would  swallow  me  up  all  the  day  long; 
For  they  are  many  that  fight  proudly  against  me. 
What  time  I  am  afraid, 
I  will  put  my  trust  in  thee. 

— Psalm  56:  1-3. 

Almighty  and  ever-living  God,  we  draw  near  unto  Thee, 
believing  that  Thou  art,  and  that  Thou  wilt  reward  all  those 
who  diligently  seek  Thee.  We  are  weak,  mortal  men,  im- 
mersed in  this  world's  affairs,  buffeted  by  its  sorrows,  Hung 
to  and  fro  by  its  conflicts  of  right  and  wrong.  We  cry  for 
some  abiding  stay,  for  some  sure  and  steadfast  anchorage. 
Reveal  Thyself  to  us  as  the  eternal  God,  as  the  unfathomable 
Love  that  encompasses  every  spirit  Thou  hast  made,  and 
bears  it  on,  through  the  light  and  the  darkness  alike,  to  the 
goal  of  Thine  own  perfection.  And  yet,  when  Thou  speak- 
fst  to  us,  we  are  covered  with  confusion,  for  now  we  remem- 

188 


FAITH  AND  MOODS  [VIII-4] 

ber  till  the  sadness  and  evil  disorder  of  our  lives.  Thou  hast 
visited  our  hearts  with  ideals  fair  and  beautiful,  but  alas! 
we  have  grown  weary  in  aspiration,  and  have  declined  into 
the  sordid  aims  of  our  baser  selves.  Thou  hast  given  us  the 
love  of  parent  and  of  friend,  that  we  might  thereby  learn 
something  of  Thine  own  love;  yet  too  often  have  we  despised 
Thy  gift  and  shut  our  hearts  to  all  the  wonder  and  the 
glory.  IV e  make  confession  before  Thee  of  our  sin  and 
folly  and  ignorance.  Again  and  again  we  have  vowed  our- 
selves to  Thy  service;  again  and  again  our  languid  wills  have 
failed  to  do  Thy  Will.  We  have  been  seduced  by  the  sweet 
poison  of  sin,  and  even  against  light  and  knowledge  we  have 
done  that  which  Thou  dost  abhor,  and  which  in  our  secret 
hearts  we  loathe.  And  now  we  almost  fear  to  repent,  lest 
Thou  shouldst  call  us  into  judgment  for  a  repentance  that 
must  needs  be  repented  of.  O  mighty  Saviour  of  men!  be 
patient  with  us  a  little  longer.  Take  us  back  to  Thyself, 
ll'ithout  Thee,  we  are  undone;  with  Thee,  we  will  take  fresh 
heart  of  hope,  and  bind  ourselves  with  a  more  effectual  vow, 
and  laying  aside  every  weight  and  the  sin  which  doth  so  easily 
beset  us,  we  will  follow  Thee  whithersoever  Thou  leadest. 
.-linen. — Samuel  McComb. 

Eighth  Week,  Fourth  Day 

Fear  depresses  vitality  and  is  a  fruitful  cause  of  nervous 
disorders,  with  all  their  disastrous  reactions  on  man's  health. 
Modern  investigation  has  shown  beyond  any  reasonable  doubt 
that  while  illness  comes  often  by  way  of  the  body,  it  comes 
also  by  way  of  the  mind ;  our  moods  and  tempers  have  a 
physical  echo,  and  of  all  fatal  mental  states  none  is  so  ruin- 
ous as  fear.  It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  some  people 
never  are  well.  As  Dr.  McComb  puts  it,  "Many  play  at  liv- 
ing— they  do  not  really  live.  They  fear  the  responsibilities, 
the  struggles,  the  adventures,  not  without  risk,  which  life 
offers  them.  They  fear  illness.  They  fear  poverty.  They 
fear  unhappiness.  They  fear  danger.  They  fear  the  passion 
of  sacrifice.  They  fear  even  the  exaltation  of  a  pure  and 
noble  love,  until  the  settlements  in  money  and  social  prestige 
have  been  duly  certified.  They  fear  to  take  a  plunge  into 
life's  depths.  They  fear  this  world,  and  they  fear  still  more 
the  world  beyond  the  grave."  In  such  a  mood  no  man  can 

189 


[VIII-4]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

possibly  be  well.  Faith,  therefore,  which  drives  out  fear, 
has  always  been  a  minister  of  health.  The  Master's  heal- 
ings, which  to  the  rationalism  of  a  previous  generation  seemed 
incredible,  in  the  light  of  the  present  knowledge  seem  in- 
evitable. He  had  faith  and  he  demanded  faith,  and  wherever 
the  faith-attitude  can  be  set  in  motion  against  the  fear-atti- 
tude and  all  its  morbid  brood,  the  consequences  will  be 
physical  as  well  as  moral.  An  outgrown  custom  of  the  early 
Church  does  not  now  seem  so  strange  as  it  did  a  generation 
ago: 

Is  any  among  you  suffering?  let  him  pray.  Is  any  cheer- 
ful? let  him  sing  praise.  Is  any  among  you  sick?  let  him 
call  for  the  elders  of  the  church;  and  let  them  pray  over 
him,  anointing  him  with  oil  in  the  name  of  the  Lord: 
and  the  prayer  of  faith  shall  save  him  that  is  sick,  and 
the  Lord  shall  raise  him  up;  and  if  he  have  committed 
sins,  it  shall  be  forgiven  him.  Confess  therefore  your 
sins  one  to  another,  and  pray  one  for  another,  that  ye 
may  be  healed.  The  supplication  of  a  righteous  man 
availeth  much  in  its  working. — James  5:  13-16. 

Eternal  God,  who  art  above  all  change  and  darkness,  whose 
will  begat  us,  and  whose  all  present^  love  doth  enfold  and 
continually  redeem  us,  Holy  Guest  who  indwellest,  and  dost 
comfort  us;  we  have  gathered  to  worship  Thee,  and  in  com- 
munion with  Thee  to  find  ourselves  raised  to  the  light  of  our 
life,  and  the  Heaven  of  our  desires. 

Pour  upon  our  consciousness  the  sense  of  Thy  wonderful 
nearness  to  us.  Reveal  to  our  weakness  and  distress  the 
power  and  the  grace  that  are-  more  than  sufficient  for  us. 
May  we  see  what  we  are,  Thy  Spirit-born  children  linked 
by  nature,  love,  and  choice  to  Thy  mighty  being;  and  may 
the  vision  make  all  fears  to  fade,  and  a  Divine  strength  to 
pulse  within. 

Enable  us  to  carry  out  from  this  place  the  peace  and 
strength  that  here  we  gain,  to  take  into  our  homes  a  kinder 
spirit,  a  new  thoughtfulness;  that  we  may  brighten  sadness, 
heal  the  sick,  and  make  happiness  to  abound.  May  we  take 
into  our  daily  tasks  and  life  of  labor,  a  sense  of  righteous- 
ness that  shall  be  as  salt  to  every  evil  and  corrupting  influence. 

Because  we  have  walked  here  awhile  with  Thee,  may  we 
be  able  to  walk  more  patiently  with  man.  Send  us  forth  with 

190 


FAITH  AND  MOODS  [VIII-5] 

love  to  the  fallen,  hope  for  the  despairing,  strength  to  impart 
to  the  weak  and  wayward;  and  carry  on  through  us  the 
work  Thou  didst  commence  in  Thy  Son  our  Brother  Man  and 
Saviour  God.  Amen. — W.  E.  Orchard. 

Eighth  Week,  Fifth  Day 

Fear  makes  impossible  any  satisfying  joy  in  life.  A  man 
of  faith  may  be  deeply  joyful  even  in  disastrous  circum- 
stances, but  a  man  of  fear  would  be  unhappy  in  heaven. 
Stevenson  sings  in  "the  saddest  and  the  bravest  song  he 
ever  wrote" : 

"God,  if  this  were  faith?  .    .    . 
To  go  on  for  ever  and  fail  and  go  on  again, 
And  be  mauled  to  the  earth  and  arise, 
And  contend  for  the  shade  of  a  word  and  a  thing  not  seen 

with  the  eyes : 

With  half  of  a  broken  hope  for  a  pillow  at  night 
That  somehow  the  right  is  the  right, 
And  the  smooth  shall  bloom  from  the  rough : 
Lord,  if  that  were  enough?" 

Sad  this  song  may  be,  but  at  the  heart  of  it  is  yet  a  fierce 
joy  because  faith  is  there.  But  put  a  man  of  fear  in  luxury 
and  remove  from  him  every  visible  cause  of  disquiet  and  he 
will  still  be  miserable.  The  more  a  man  considers  these  two 
determinant  moods  in  life,  the  more  he  sees  that  somehow 
the  faith-attitude  must  be  his,  if  life  is  to  be  worth  living. 
Without  it  life  dries  up  into  a  Sahara ;  with  it,  he  comes  into 
a  company  of  the  world's  glad  spirits,  who  one  way  or  an- 
other have  felt  what  the  Psalmist  sings : 

Jehovah  is  my  light  and  my  salvation; 

Whom  shall  I  fear? 

Jehovah  is  the  strength  of  my  life; 

Of  whom  shall  I  be  afraid? 

When  evil-doers  came  upon  me  to  eat  up  my  flesh. 

Even  mine  adversaries  and  my  foes,  they  stumbled  and 

fell. 

Though  a  host  should  encamp  against  me, 
My  heart  shall  not  fear: 
Though  war  should  rise  against  me, 
Even  then  will  I  be  confident. 

191 


[VIII-6]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

One  thing  have  I  asked  of  Jehovah,  that  will  I  seek  after: 
That  I  may  dwell  in  the  house  of  Jehovah  all  the  days 

of  my  life, 

To  behold  the  beauty  of  Jehovah, 
And  to  inquire  in  his  temple. 
For  in  the  day  of  trouble  he  will  keep  me  secretly  in  his 

pavilion : 

In  the  covert  of  his  tabernacle  will  he  hide  me; 
He  will  lift  me  up  upon  a  rock. 
And  now  shall  my  head  be  lifted  up  above  mine  enemies 

round  about  me; 

And  I  will  offer  in  his  tabernacle  sacrifices  of  joy; 
I  will  sing,  yea,  I  will  sing  praises  unto  Jehovah. 

— Psalm  27:  1-6. 

Gracious  Father!  We  confess  the  painful  riddle  of  our 
being,  that,  while  claiming  kinship  with  Thee,  we  feel  far 
from  Thee.  O,  what  means  this  strange  bewilderment,  this 
never-ending  war  between  our  worse  and  better  thoughts? 
We  are  Thine  by  right,  yet  we  have  not  given  ourselves  wholly 
to  Thy  care.  Our  hearts  know  no  rest,  save  in  Thee,  yet  they 
have  sought  it  in  this  world's  vainglory,  which  passeth  away. 
We  seek  to  quench  our  thirst  at  the  cisterns  of  this  earth, 
but  they  are  broken  cisterns,  that  can  hold  no  water.  Lead 
us  to  Thy  well  of  life  that  springeth  up  eternally.  Give  us 
to  drink  of  that  spiritual  water,  of  which,  if  any  man  drink, 
he  shall  never  thirst  again.  We  lament  our  want  and  poverty 
before  Thee.  Open  Thou  our  eyes  to  behold  the  unsearch- 
able riches  of  Thy  grace,  and  increase  our  faith  that  we  may 
make  them  ours.  Unite  us  to  Thee  in  the  bonds  of  infill  and 
love  and  purpose.  Out  of  Thy  fulness,  which  is  in  Christ, 
give  to  each  one  of  us  according  to  his  need.  Make  us  wise 
with  His  Wisdom;  pure  with  His  purity;  strong  with  His 
strength;  that  we  may  rise  into  the  power  and  glory  of  the 
life  that  is  life  indeed.  Hear  our  hearts'  weak  and  wander- 
ing cries,  and  when  Thou  hearest,  forgive  and  bless,  for  His 
sake.  Amen. — Samuel  McComb. 

Eighth  Week,  Sixth  Day 

No  man  can  serve  two  masters:  for  either  he  will  hate 
the  one,  and  love  the  other;  or  else  he  will  hold  to  one, 
and  despise  the  other.  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  mam- 
mon. Therefore  I  say  unto  you,  Be  not  anxious  for  your 

192 


FAITH  AND  MOODS  [VIII-6] 

life,  what  ye  shall  eat,  or  what  ye  shall  drink;  nor  yet 
for  your  body,  what  ye  shall  put  on.  Is  not  the  life 
more  than  the  food,  and  the  body  than  the  raiment? 
Behold  the  birds  of  the  heaven,  that  they  sow  not,  neither 
do  they  reap,  nor  gather  into  barns;  and  your  heavenly 
Father  feedeth  them.  Are  not  ye  of  much  more  value 
than  they?  And  which  of  you  by  being  anxious  can  add 
one  cubit  unto  the  measure  of  his  life?  And  why  are  ye 
anxious  concerning  raiment?  Consider  the  lilies  of  the 
field,  how  they  grow;  they  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin: 
yet  I  say  unto  you,  that  even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory 
was  not  arrayed  like  one  of  these. 

But  if  God  doth  so  clothe  the  grass  of  the  field,  which 
to-day  is,  and  to-morrow  is  cast  into  the  oven,  shall  he 
not  much  more  clothe  you,  O  ye  of  little  faith?  Be  not 
therefore  anxious,  saying,  What  shall  we  eat?  or,  What 
shall  we  drink?  or,  Wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed? 
For  after  all  these  things  do  the  Gentiles  seek;  for  your 
heavenly  Father  knoweth  that  ye  have  need  of  all  these 
things.  But  seek  ye  first  his  kingdom,  and  his  righteous- 
ness; and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you. — 
Matt.  6:  24-33. 

The  meaning  of  this  passage  hinges  on  the  first  "therefore." 
You  cannot  serve  God  and  selfish  gain  at  the  same  time,  says 
Jesus ;  you  should  choose  decisively  to  serve  God ;  and  there- 
fore you  must  not  be  anxious  about  yourself.  For  anxious 
fear  so  concentrates  a  man's  thouglit  on  himself  that  he  can 
serve  no  one  else.  That  this  is  the  meaning  of  this  familiar 
passage  is  clear  also  from  its  conclusion.  The  real  reason 
for  conquering  anxious  fear  is  that  a  man  may  give  himself 
wholeheartedly  to  the  service  of  the  Kingdom.  That  fear 
does  spoil  usefulness  is  obvious ;  a  man  cannot  be  fearful 
for  himself  and  considerate  of  his  fellows.  As  Stevenson 
puts  it  in  "Acs  Triplex,"  "The  man  who  has  least  fear  for 
his  own  carcass  has  most  time  to  consider  others.  That 
eminent  chemist  who  took  his  walks  abroad  in  tin  shoes  and 
subsisted  wholly  upon  tepid  milk  had  all  his  work  cut  out 
for  him  in  considerate  dealings  with  his  own  digestion.  So 
soon  as  prudence  has  begun  to  grow  up  in  the  brain,  like  a 
dismal  fungus,  it  finds  its  first  expression  in  a  paralysis  of 
generous  acts."  The  shame  of  our  fearful  living  is  that  it 
circles  about  self,  is  narrowed  down  to  mean  solicitudes  about 
our  own  comfort,  and  is  utterly  incapable  of  serving  God 
or  seeking  first  his  Kingdom.  Only  faith  puts  folk  at  leisure 

193 


[VIII-7]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

from  their  small  anxieties  so  that  they  can  be  servants  of  a 
worthy  cause.  Jesus,  therefore,  in  this  passage  is  not  giving 
us  the  impossible  injunction  not  to  think  about  tomorrow; 
he  is  stating  a  truth  of  experience,  that  anxious  fear  for 
oneself  which  so  draws  in  the  thought  that  God's  great  causes 
are  forgotten  is  a  deadly  peril  in  man's  life.  By  faith  thrust 
out  the  mean  and  timid  solicitudes,  is  his  injunction,  that  life 
may  be  free  to  put  first  things  first. 

We  come  to  Thee,  our  Father,  that  we  may  more  deeply 
enter  into  Thy  joy.  Thou  furriest  darkness  into  day,  and 
mourning  into  praise.  Thou  art  our  Fortress  in  temptation, 
our  Shield  in  remorse,  our  Covert  in  calamity,  our  Star  of 
Hope  in  every  sorrow.  O  Lord,  we  would  know  Thy  peace, 
deep,  abiding,  inexhaustible.  When  -we  seek  Thy  peace,  our 
weariness  is  gone,  the  sense  of  our  imperfection  ceases  to 
discourage  us,  and  our  tired  souls  forget  their  pain.  When, 
strengthened  and  refreshed  by  Thy  goodness,  we  return  to 
the  task  of  life,  send  us  forth  as  servants  of  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  service  and  redemption  of  the  world.  Send  us  to  the 
hearts  without  love,  to  men  and  women  burdened  with  heavy 
cares,  to  the  miserable,  the  sad,  the  broken-hearted.  Send 
us  to  the  children  whose  heritage  has  been  a  curse,  to  the 
poor  who  doubt  Thy  Providence,  to  the  sick  who  crave  for 
healing  and  cannot  find  it,  to  the  fallen  for  whom  no  man 
cares.  May  we  be  ministers  of  Thy  mercy,  messengers  of 
Thy  helpful  pity,  to  all  who  need  Thee.  By  our  sympathy, 
our  prayers,  our  kindness,  our  gifts,  may  we  make  a  way 
for  the  inflow  of  Thy  love  into  needy  and  loveless  lives.  And 
so 'may  we  have  that  love  which  alone  is  the  fulfilling  of  Thy 
law.  Hasten  the  time  when  all  men  shall  love  Thee  and  one 
another  in  Thee,  when  all  the  barriers  that  divide  us  shall 
be  broken  down,  and  every  heart  shall  be  filled  with  joy  and 
every  tongue  with  melody.  These  gracious  gifts  we  ask,  in 
Jesus'  name.  Amen. — Samuel  McComb. 

Eighth  Week,  Seventh  Day 

Fear  does  not  reveal  its  disastrous  consequences  to  the 
full  until  it  colors  one's  thoughts  about  the  source  and  destiny 
of  life.  Folk  work  joyfully  at  a  picture-puzzle  so  long  as 
they  believe  that  the  puzzle  can  be  put  together,  that  it  was 

194 


FAITH  AND  MOODS  [VIII-;] 

meant,  completed,  to  compose  a  picture,  and  that  their  labor 
is  an  effort  made  in  reasonable  hope.  But  if  they  begin 
to  fear  that  they  are  being  fooled,  that  the  puzzle  is  a  hoax 
and  never  can  be  pieced  together  anywhere  by  anyone,  how 
swiftly  that  suspicion  will  benumb  their  work!  So  joyful 
living  depends  on  man's  conviction  that  this  life  is  not  a  hap- 
less accident,  that  a  good  purpose  binds  it  all  together,  and 
that  our  labor  for  righteousness  is  not  expended  on  a  futile 
task  without  a  worthy  outcome.  But  fear  blights  all  such 
hope;  it  whispers  what  one  pessimist  said  aloud:  "Life  is  not 
a  tragedy  but  a  farcical  melodrama,  which  is  the  worst  kind 
of  play."  That  fear  benumbs  worthy  living,  kills  hope,  makes 
cynical  disgust  with  life  a  reasonable  attitude,  and  with  its 
frost  withers  all  man's  finest  aspirations.  Only  faith  in  God 
can  save  men  from  such  fear.  Fear  or  faith — there  is  no 
dilemma  so  full  of  consequence.  Fear  imprisons,  faith  lib- 
erates; fear  paralyzes,  faith  empowers;  fear  disheartens,  faith 
encourages ;  fear  sickens,  faith  heals ;  fear  makes  useless, 
faith  makes  serviceable — and,  most  of  all,  fear  puts  hope- 
lessness at  the  heart  of  life,  while  faith  rejoices  in  its  God. 

Oh  give  thanks  unto  Jehovah;  for  he  is  good; 

For  his  lovingkindness  endureth  for  ever. 

Let  Israel  now  say, 

That  his  lovingkindness  endureth  for  ever. 

Let  the  house  of  Aaron  now  say, 

That  his  lovingkindness  endureth  for  ever. 

Let  them  now  that  fear  Jehovah  say, 

That  his  lovingkindness  endureth  for  ever. 

Out  of  my  distress  I  called  upon  Jehovah: 

Jehovah  answered  me  and  set  me  in  a  large  place. 

Jehovah  is  on  my  side;  I  will  not  fear: 

What  can  man  do  unto  me? 

— Psalm  118:  1-6. 

O  God,  we  invoke  Thy  blessing  upon  all  who  need  Thee, 
and  who  are  groping  after  Thee,  if  haply  they  may  find  Thee. 
Be  gracious  to  those  who  bear  the  sins  of  others,  who  are 
vexed  by  the  wrongdoing  and  selfishness  of  those  near  and 
dear  to  them,  and  reveal  to  them  the  glory  of  their  fellow- 
ship with  the  sufferings  of  Christ.  Brood  in  tenderness  over 
the  hearts  of  the  anxious,  the  miserable,  the  victims  of 
phantasmal  fear  and  morbid  imaginings.  Redeem  from 

195 


[VIII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH  . 

slavery  the  men  and  women  who  have  yielded  to  degrading 
habits.  Put  Thy  Spirit  within  them,  that  they  may  rise  up 
in  shame  and  sorrow  and  make  confession  to  Thee,  "So 
brutish  was  I,  and  ignorant:  I  was  as  a  beast  before  Thee." 
And  then  let  them  have  the  glad  assurance  that  Thou  art 
with  them,  the  secret  of  all  good,  the  promise  and  potency 
of  better  things.  Console  with  Thy  large  consolation  those 
who  mourn  for  their  loved  dead,  who  count  the  empty  places 
and  long  for  the  sound  of  a  voice  that  is  still.  Inspire  them 
with  the  firm  conviction  that  the  dead  are  safe  in  Thy  keep- 
ing,  nay,  that  they  are  not  dead,  but  live  unto  Thee.  Give 
to  all  sorrowing  ones  a  garland  for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy 
for  mourning,  and  the  garment  of  praise  for  the  spirit  of 
heaviness.  Remember  for  good  all  who  are  perplexed  with 
the  mysteries  of  existence,  and  who  grieve  because  the  world 
is  so  sad  and  unintelligible.  Teach  them  that  Thy  hand  is  on 
the  helm  of  affairs,  that  Thou  dost  guide  Thine  own  world, 
and  canst  change  every  dark  cloud  into  bright  sunshine.  In 
this  faith  let  them  rest,  and  by  this  faith  let  them  live.  These 
blessings  we  ask  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ.  Amen. — Samuel  McComb. 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 


Many  people  do  not  find  their  most  perplexing  difficulty 
either  in  the  realm  of  trust  or  of  belief,  but  in  a  problem 
which  includes  both.  They  are  confused  because  neither  their 
experience  of  God  nor  their  intellectual  conviction  of  the  rea- 
sonableness of  faith  is  dependable  and  steady.  Faith  comes 
and  goes  in  them  with  fluctuating  moods  that  bring  an  appall- 
ing sense  of  insecurity.  Their  religious  life  is  not  stable  and 
consistent;  it  runs  through  variant  degrees  of  confidence  and 
doubt,  and  its  whimsical  ups  and  downs  continually  baffle 
them.  To  classify  some  folk  as  men  of  faith  and  some  as 
men  of  doubt  does  not,  in  the  light  of  this  experience,  quite 
tally  with  the  facts.  There  are  moods  of  faith  and  moods 
of  doubt  in  all  of  us  and  rarely  does  either  kind  secure  unani- 
mous consent.  Were  we  to  decide  for  irreligion,  a  minority 
protest  would  be  vigorously  urged  in  the  interests  of  faith, 
and  when  most  assuredly  we  choose  religion,  the  prayer, 

196 


FAITH  AND  MOODS  [VIII-c] 

"Lord,  I  believe,  help  thou  mine  unbelief"  (Mark  9:24)  is 
still  appropriate.  We  often  seem  to  be  exchanging,  as  Brown- 
ing's bishop  says : 

"A  life  of  doubt  diversified  by  faith, 
For  one  of  faith  diversified  by  doubt." 

Some  hope  arises  when  we  observe  that  this  experience 
which  so  perplexes  us  is  fully  acknowledged  in  the  Bible. 
The  popular  supposition  is  that  when  one  opens  the  Scrip- 
ture he  finds  himself  in  a  world  of  constant  and  triumphant 
faith.  No  low  moods  and  doubts  can  here  obscure  the  trust 
of  men ;  here  God  is  always  real,  saints  sing  in  prison  or 
dying  see  their  Lord  enthroned  in  heaven.  When  one,  how- 
ever, really  knows  the  Bible,  it  obviously  is  no  serene  record 
of  untroubled  faith.  It  is  turbulent  with  moods  and  doubt. 

Here,  to  be  sure,  is  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  First  Corin- 
thians, on  Immortality,  but  here  too  is  another  cry,  burdened 
with  all  the  doubt  man  ever  felt  about  eternal  life,  "That 
which  befalleth  the  sons  of  men  befalleth  beasts;  even  one 
thing  befalleth  them:  as  the  one  dieth,  so  dieth  the  other;  yea, 
they  have  all  one  breath ;  and  man  hath  no  preeminence  above 
the  beasts"  (Eccl.  3:19).  The  Scripture  has  many  exultant 
passages  on  divine  faithfulness,  but  Jeremiah's  bitter  prayer 
is  not  excluded :  "Why  is  my  pain  perpetual,  and  my  wound 
incurable,  which  refuseth  to  be  healed?  Wilt  thou  indeed 
be  unto  me  as  a  deceitful  brook,  as  waters  that  fail?"  (Jer. 
15:  18).  The  confident  texts  on  prayer  are  often  quoted,  but 
there  are  cries  of  another  sort :  Job's  complaint,  "Behold,  I 
go  forward,  but  he  is  not  there ;  and  backward,  but  I  can- 
not perceive  him"  (Job  23 :  8)  ;  Habakkuk's  bitterness,  "O 
Jehovah,  how  long  shall  I  cry,  and  thou  wilt  not  hear?  I  cry 
unto  thee  of  violence  and  thou  wilt  not  save"  (Hab.  1:2). 
The  Bible  is  no  book  of  tranquil  faith.  From  the  time  when 
Gideon,  in  a  mood  like  that  of  multitudes  today,  cried,  "Oh, 
my  Lord,  if  Jehovah  is  with  us,  why  then  is  all  this  befallen 
us?"  (Judges  6:  13)  to  the  complaint  of  the  slain  saints  in  the 
Apocalypse,  "How  long,  O  Master,  the  holy  and  true,  dost 
thou  not  judge  and  avenge  our  blood"  (Rev.  6:  10),  the  Bible 
is  acquainted  with  doubt.  It  knows  the  searching,  perplexing, 
terrifying  questions  that  in  all  ages  vex  men's  souls.  If  the 
Psalmist,  in  an  exultant  mood,  sang,  "Jehovah  is  my  shep- 

197 


'[VIII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

herd,"  he  also  cried,  "Jehovah,  why  casteth  thou  off  my  soul? 
Why  hidest  thou  thy  face  from  me?"  (Psalm  88:  14). 

No  aspect  of  the  Scripture  could  bring  it  more  warmly  into 
touch  with  man's  experience  than  this  confession  of  fluctuat- 
ing moods.  At  least  in  this  the  Bible  is  our  book.  Great 
heights  are  there,  that  we  know  something  of.  Psalmists  sing 

Xin  adoration,  prophets  are  sure  of  God  and  of  his  coming  vic- 
tory; apostles  pledge  in  sacrifice  the  certainty  of  their  belief, 
and  the  Master  on  Transfiguration  Mountain  prays  until  his 
countenance  is  radiant.  And  depths  are  there,  that  modern 
men  know  well.  Saints  cry  out  against  unanswered  prayer 
and  cannot  understand  how  such  an  evil,  wretched  world  is 
ruled  by  a  good  God ;  in  their  bitter  griefs  they  complain  that 
God  has  cast  them  off,  and  utterly  forgotten  and,  dismayed, 
doubt  even  that  a  man's  death  differs  from  a  dog's.  This  is 
our  book.  For  the  faith  of  many  of  us,  however  we  insist 
that  we  are  Christians,  is  not  tranquil,  steady,  and  serene.  It 
is  moody,  occasional,  spasmodic,  with  hours  of  great  assur- 
ance, and  other  hours  when  confidence  sags  and  trust  is  in- 
secure. 

II 

Faith  so  generally  is  discussed  as  though  it  were  a  creed, 
accepted  once  for  all  and  thereafter  statically  held,  that  the 
influence  of  our  moods  on  faith  is  not  often  reckoned  with. 
But  the  moods  of  faith  are  the  very  pith  and  marrow  of  our 
actual  experience.  When  a  Christian  congregation  recite 
together  their  creedal  affirmation,  "I  believe  in  God,"  it 
sounds  as  though  they  all  maintained  a  solid,  constant  faith. 
But  when  in  imagination,  one  breaks  up  the  congregation  and 
'  interprets  from  his  knowledge  of  men's  lives  what  the  faith 
of  the  individuals  actually  means,  he  sees  that  they  believe  in 
God  not  evenly  and  constantly,  but  more  or  less,  sometimes 
very  much,  sometimes  not  confidently  at  all.  Our  faith  in 
God  is  not  a  static  matter  such  as  the  recitation  of  a  creed 
suggests.  Some  things  we  do  believe  in  steadily.  That  two 
plus  two  make  four,  that  the  summed  angles  of  a  triangle 
make  two  right  angles — of  such  things  we  are  unwaveringly 
sure.  No  moods  can  shake  our  confidence ;  no  griefs  con- 
fuse us,  no  moral  failures  quench  our  certainty.  Though  the 
heavens  fall,  two  and  two  make  four !  But  our  faith  in  God 
belongs  in  another  realm.  It  is  a  vital  experience.  It  in- 

108 


FAITH  AND  MOODS  [VIlI-c] 

volves  the  whole  man,  with  his  chameleon  moods,  his  glowing 
insights,  his  exalted  hours,  and  his  dejected  days  when  life 
flows  sluggishly  and  no  great  thing  seems  real. 

This  experience  of  variable  moods  in  faith  does  not  belong 
especially  to  feeble  folk,  whose  ups  and  downs  in  their  life 
with  God  would  illustrate  their  whole  irresolute  and  flimsy 
living.  The  great  believers  sometimes  know  best  this  tidal 
rise  and  fall  of  confidence.  Elijah  one  day,  with  absolute 
belief  in  God,  defied  the  hosts  of  Baal  and  the  next,  in  desolate 
reaction,  wanted  to  die.  Luther  put  it  with  his  rugged  candor, 
"Sometimes  I  believe  and  sometimes  I  doubt."  John  Knox, 
at  liberty  to  preach,  "dings  the  pulpit  into  blads"  in  his  con- 
fident utterance ;  but  the  same  Knox  recalled  that,  in  the 
galleys,  his  soul  knew  "anger,  wrath,  and  indignation  which  it 
conceived  against  God,  calling  all  his  promises  in  doubt." 
The-M-aster.  himself,  was  jioj^a  stranger_tothisexf)erience.  He 
believed  in  God  with  unwavering  assurance,  as  one  believes 
in  the  shining  of  the  sun.  But  the  fact  that  the  sun  perpetu- 
ally shines  did  not  imply  that  every  day  was  a  sunshiny  day 
for  him.  The  clouds  came  pouring  up  out  of  his  dark  hori- 
zons and  hid  the  sun.  "Now  is  my  soul  troubled ;  and  what 
shall  I  say?"  (John  12:27).  And  once  the  fog  drove  in,  so 
dense  and  dark  that  one  would  think  there  never  had  been  any 
sun  at  all.  "My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  / 
me?"  (Matt.  27:46). 

This  experience  of  fluctuating  moods  is  too  familiar  to  be 
denied,  too  influential  to  be  neglected.  There  can  be  no  use 
in  hiding  it  from  candid  thought  behind  the  recitation  of  a 
creedal  formula.  There  may  be  great  use  in  searching  out  its 
meaning.  For  there  are  ways  in  which  this  common  expe- 
rience, at  first  vexatious  and  disquieting,  may  supply  solid 
ground  for  Christian  confidence. 

Ill 

In  dealing  with  these  variant  moods  of  faith  we  are  not  left 
without  an  instrument.  We  have  the  sense  of  value.  We 
discern  not  only  the  existence  of  things,  but  their  worth  as 
well.  When,  therefore,  a  man  has  recognized  his  moods  as 
facts,  he  has  not  said  all  that  he  can  say  about  them.  Upon 
no  objects  of  experience  can  the  sense  of  value  be  used  with 
so  much  certainty  as  upon  our  moods.  We  know  our  best 
hours  when  they  come.  The  lapidary,  with  unerring  skill, 

199 


[VIII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

learns  to  distinguish  a  real  diamond  from  a  false,  but  his 
knowledge  is  external  and  contingent,  compared  with  the  in- 
ward and  authoritative  certainty  with  which  we  know  our 
best  hours  f ronr  our  worst.  Our  great  moods  carry  with  them 
the  authentic  marks  of  their  superiority. 

Experience  readily  confirms  this  truth.  We  all  have,  for 
example,  cynical  and  sordid  moods.  At  such  times,  only  the 
appetites  of  physical  life  seem  much  to  matter;  only  the  things 
that  minister  to  common  comfort  greatly  count.  When  Syd- 
ney Smith,  the  English  cleric,  writes,  "I  feel  an  ungovernable 
interest  in  my  horses,  my  pigs,  and  my  plants.  But  I  am 
forced  and  always  was  forced  to  task  myself  up  to  an  inter- 
est in  any  higher  objects,"  most  of  us  can  understand  his 
mood.  We  grow  obtuse  at  times  to  all  that  in  our  better 
moods  had  thrilled  us  most.  Nature  suffers  in  our  eyes ; 
great  books  seem  dull ;  causes  that  once  we  served  with  zest 
lose 'interest,  and  personal  relationships  grow  pale  and  tame. 
From  such  mere  dullness  we  easily  drift  down  to  cynicism. 
Music  once  had  stirred  the  depths,  but  now  our  spirits  tally 
with  the  scoffer's  jest,  "What  are  you  crying  about  with  your 
Wagner  and  your  Brahms?  It  is  only  horsehair  scraping  on 
•catgut."  Man's  most  holy  things  may  lose  their  grandeur  and 
become  a  butt  of  ridicule.  When  the  mood  of  Aristophanes 
is  on,  we  too  may  hoist  serious  Socrates  among  the  clouds, 
,4nd  set  him  talking  moonshine  while  the  cynical  look  on  and 
'  laugh.  The  spirit  that  "sits  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful"  is  an 
ancient  malady. 

But  every  man  is  thoroughly  aware  that  these  are  not  his 
best  moods.  From  such  depleted  attitudes  we  come  to 
worthier  hours ;  real  life  arrives  again.  Nature  and  art  be- 
come imperatively  beautiful;  moral  causes  seem  worth  sacri- 
fice, and  before  man's  highest  life,  revealed  in  character,  ideal, 
and  faith,  we  stand  in  reverence.  These  are  our  great  hours, 
when  spiritual  values  take  the  throne,  when  all  else  dons 
livery  to  serve  them,  and  we  find  it  easy  to  believe  in  God. 

Again,  we  have  crushed  and  rebellious  moods.  We  may 
have  been  Christians  for  many  years ;  yet  when  disaster,  long 
delayed,  at  last  descends,  and  our  dreams  are  wrecked,  we  do 
rebel.  Complaint  rises  hot  within  us.  Joseph  Parker, 
preacher  at  the  City  Temple,  London,  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight 
could  write  that  he  had  never  had  a  doubt.  Neither  the  good- 
ness of  God  nor  the  divinity  of  Christ,  nor  anything  essen- 

200 


FAITH  AND  'MOODS  [VIII-c] 

tial  to  his  Christian  faith  had  he  ever  questioned.  But  within 
a  year  an  experience  had  fallen  of  which  he  wrote:  "In  that 
dark  hour  I  became  almost  an  atheist.  For  God  had  set  his 
foot  upon  my  prayers  and  treated  my  petitions  with  con- 
tempt. If  I  had  seen  a  dog  in  such  agony  as  mine,  I  would 
have  pitied  and  helped  the  dumb  beast;  yet  God  spat  upon  / 
me  and  cast  me  out  as  an  offense — out  into  the  waste  wilder- 
ness and  the  night  black  and  starless."  No  new  philosophy 
had  so  shaken  the  faith  of  this  long  unquestioning  believer. 
But  his  wife  had  died  and  he  was  in  a  heartbroken  mood  that 
all  his  arguments,  so  often  used  on  others,  could  not  pene- 
trate. He  believed  in  God  as  one  believes  in  the  sun  when  he 
has  lived  six  months  in  the  polar  night  and  has  not  seen  it. 

These  heartbroken  moods,  however,  are  not  our  best.  Out 
of  rebellious  grief  we  lift  our  eyes  in  time  to  see  how  other 
men  have  borne  their  sorrows  off  and  built  them  into  char- 
acter. We  see  great  lives  shine  out  from  suffering,  like  Rem- 
brandt's radiant  faces  from  dark  backgrounds.  We  see  that 
all  the  virtues  which  we  most  admire — constancy,  patience, 
fortitude — are  impossible  without  stern  settings,  and  that  in 
time  of  trouble  they  find  their  aptest  opportunity,  their 
noblest  chance.  We  rise  into  a  new  mood,  grow  resolute  not 
to  be  crushed,  but,  as  though  there  were  moral  purpose  in 
man's  trials,  to  be  hallowed,  deepened,  purified.  The  meaning 
of  Samuel  Rutherford's  old  saying  dawns  upon  us,  "When  I 
am  in  the  cellar  of  affliction,  I  reach  out  my  hand  for  the 
king's  wine."  And  folk,  seeing  us,  it  may  be,  take  heart  and 
are  assured  that  God  is  real,  since  he  can  make  a  man  bear 
off  his  trial  like  that  and  grow  the  finer  for  it.  These  are 
our  great  hours  too,  when  the  rains  descend,  and  the  winds 
blow,  and  the  floods  come,  and  beat  upon  our  house,  and  it  is 
founded  on  a  rock ! 

Once  more,  we  have  hours  of  discouragement  about  the 
world.  The  more  we  have  cared  for  moral  causes  and  in- 
vested life  in  their  advancement,  the  more  we  are  desolate 
when  they  seem  to  fail.  Some  rising  tide  in  which  we  trusted 
turns  to  ebb  again,  injustice  wins  its  victories,  the  people 
listen  to  demagogues  and  not  to  statesmen,  social  causes  essen- 
tial to  human  weal  are  balked,  wars  come  and  undo  the  hopes 
of  centuries.  Who  does  not  sometimes  fall  into  the  Slough  of 
Despond?  Cavour,  disheartened  about  Italy,  went  to  his 
room  to  kill  himself.  John  Knox,  dismayed  about  Scotland, 

201 


[VIII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

in  a  pathetic  prayer  entitled,  "John  Knox  with  deliberate 
mind  to  his  God,"  wrote,  "Now,  Lord  put  an  end  to  my  mis- 
ery." We  generally  think  of  Luther  in  that  intrepid  hour 
when  he  faced  Charles  V  at  Worms ;  but  he  had  times  as 
well  when  he  was  sick  with  disappointment.  "Old,  decrepit, 
lazy,  worn  out,  cold,  and  now  one-eyed,"  so  runs  a  letter,  "I 
write,  my  Jacob,  I  who  hoped  there  might  at  length  be  granted 
to  me,  already  dead,  a  well-earned  rest."  During  the  Great 
War,  this  mood  of  discouragement  has  grown  familiar.  Many 
can  understand  what  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  meant  when  he 
wrote,  of  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  "In  that  year,  cannon 
were  roaring  for  days  together  on  French  battlefields,  and  I 
would  sit  in  my  isle  (I  call  it  mine  after  the  use  of  lovers) 
and  think  upon  the  war,  and  the  pain  of  men's  wounds,  and 
the  weariness  of  their  marching  ...  It  was  something  so 
distressing,  so  instant,  that  I  lay  in  the  heather  on  the  top  of 
the  island,  with  my  face  hid,  kicking  my  heels  for  agony." 

But  these  dismayed  hours  are  not  our  best.     As   Bunyan 
r    put  it,  even  Giant  Despair  has  fainting  fits  on  sunshiny  days. 
/     In  moods  of  clearer  insight  we  perceive  out  of  how  many 
/      Egypts,  through  how  many  round-about  wilderness  journeys, 
/       God  has  led  his  people  to  how  many  Promised  Lands.     The 
Exodus  was  not  a  failure,  although  the  Hebrews,  disheartened, 
thought  it  was  and  even  Moses  had  his  dubious  hours ;  the 
mission  of  Israel  did  not  come  to  an  ignoble  end  in  the  Exile, 
although  multitudes  gave  up  their  faith  because  of  it  and  only 
prophets  dared  believe  the  hopeful  truth.    The  crucifixion  did 
not  mean  the  Gospel's  end,  as  the  disciples  thought,  nor  did 
Paul,   imprisoned,  lose  his   ministry.     Nothing   in   history   is 
more  assured  than  this,  that  only  men  of  faith  have  known 
the  truth.    And  in  hours  of  vision  when  this  fact  shines  clear 
we  rise  to  be  our  better  selves  again.     What  a  clear  ascent 
the  race  has  made  when  wide  horizons  are  taken  into  view ! 
What  endless  possibilities  must  lie  ahead !     What  ample  rea- 
sons we  possess  to  thrust  despair  aside,  and  to  go  out  to  play 
our  part  in  the  forward  movement  of  the  plan  of  God! 

"Dreamer  of  dreams?  we  take  the  taunt  with  gladness, 

Knowing  that  God  beyond  the  years  you  see, 
Has  wrought  the  dreams  that  count  with  you  for  madness 
Into  the  texture  of  the  world  to  be." 

These  are  our  better  hours. 

202 


FAITH  AND  MOODS  [VIII-c] 

IV 

Such  sordid,  cynical,  crushed,  rebellious,  and  discouraged 
moods  we  suffer,  but  we  have  hours  of  insight,  too,  when  we 
are  at  our  best.  And  as  we  face  this  ebb  and  flow  of  con- 
fidence, which  at  the  first  vexatiously  perplexed  our  faith, 
an  arresting  truth  is  clear.  The  creed  of  irreligion,  to  which 
men  are  tempted  to  resign  their  minds,  is  simply  the  intel- 
lectual formulation  of  what  is  implied  in  our  less  noble  hours. 
Take  what  man's  cynical,  sordid,  crushed,  rebellious,  and  dis- 
couraged moods  imply,  and  set  it  in  a  formal  statement  of 
life's  meaning,  and  the  result  is  the  creed  of  irreligion.  But 
take  man's  best  hours,  when  the  highest  seems  the  realest, 
\vhcn  even  sorrows  cannot  crush  his  soul,  and  when  the  world 
is  still  the  battlefield  of  God  for  men,  and  formulate  what 
these  hours  imply,  and  the  result  is  the  central  affirmations 
of  religious  faith.  Even  Renan  is  sure  that  "man  is  most 
religious  in  his  best  moments."  Of  this  high  interpretation 
our  variant  moods  are  susceptible,  that  we  know  our  best 
hours  when  they  come,  and  the  faith  implied  in  them  is  essen- 
tial Christianity.  As  Browning  sings  it: 

"Faith  is  my  waking  life : 
One  sleeps,  indeed,  and  dreams  at  intervals, 
We  know,  but  waking's  the  main  point  with  us." 

This  fact  which  we  so  have  come  upon  is  a  powerful  con- 
sideration in  favor  of  religion's  truth.  Are  we  to  trust  for 
our  guidance  the  testimony  of  our  worse  or  better  hours? 
We  have  low  moods ;  so,  too,  we  have  cellars  in  our  houses. 
But  we  do  not  live  there;  we  live  upstairs !  It  is  not  unnatural 
to  have  irreligious  moods.  There  may  be  hours  when  the 
eternal  Energy  from  which  this  universe  has  come  seems  to  be 
playing  solitaire  for  fun.  It  shuffles  the  stars  and  planets  to 
see  what  may  chance  from  their  combinations,  and  careless 
of  the  consequence,  from  everlasting  to  everlasting  it  shuffles 
and  plays,  and  shuffles  and  plays  again.  But  these  are  not  our 
best  hours.  We  may  have  moods  when  the  universe  seems  to 
us,  as  Carlyle's  figure  pictures  it,  "as  if  the  heavens  and  the 
earth  were  but  boundless  jaws  of  a  devouring  monster, 
wherein,  I,  palpitating,  lay  waiting  to  be  devoured,"  but  we 
are  inwardly  ashamed  of  times  like  that.  Man  comes  to  this 
brutal  universe  of  irreligion  by  way  of  his  ignoble  moods. 

203 


[VIII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

When  he  lifts  up  his  soul  in  his  great  hours  of  love,  of 
insight,  and  of  devotion,  life  never  looks  to  him  as  irreli- 
gion  pictures  it ;  it  never  has  so  looked  to  him  and  it  never 
will! 

In  his  best  hours  man  always  suspects  that  the  Eternal  must 
be  akin  to  what  is  best  in  us,  that  our  ideals  are  born  from 
above,  have  there  their  source  and  destiny,  that  the  Eternal 
Purpose  reigns  and  yet  shall  justify  the  struggle  of  the  ages, 
and  that  in  anyone  who  is  the  best  we  know,  we  see  most 
clearly  what  the  Eternal  is  and  means.  That  goodness  is 
deeper  than  evil,  that  spirit  is  more  than  flesh,  that  life  is 
lord  of  death,  that  love  is  the  source  of  all — such  convictions 
come  naturally  to  us  when  we  are  at  our  best.  When  one 
examines  such  affirmations,  he  perceives  that  Christianity 
in  its  essential  faiths  is  the  expression  of  our  finest  hours. 
This  is  the  source  whence  Christianity  has  come ;  it  is  man's 
best  become  articulate.  Some  used  to  say  that  Christian  faith 
had  been  foisted  on  mankind  by  priests.  Christian  faith  has 
no  more  artificially  been  foisted  upon  human  life  than  the 
full  blown  rose  is  foisted  on  the  bud.  Christianity  springs 
up  out  of  man's  best  life ;  it  is  the  utterance  of  his  tran- 
scendent moods;  it  is  man  believing  in  the  validity  of  his 
own  noblest  days. 

Christianity,  therefore,  at  its  heart  can  never  fail.  Its 
theologies  may  come  and  go,  its  institutions  rise  and  fall,  its 
rituals  have  their  dawn,  their  zenith,  and  their  decline,  but  one 
persistent  force  goes  on  and  will  go  on.  The  Gospel  is  say- 
ing to  man  iviiat  man  at  his  best  is  saying  to  himself.  Christ 
has  a  tremendous  ally  in  human  life — our  noblest  hours. 
They  are  all  upon  his  side.  What  he  says,  they  rise  to  cry 
"Amen"  to.  When  we  are  most  truly  ourselves  we  are  near- 
est to  him.  Antagonistic  philosophies,  therefore,  may  spring 
up  to  assail  the  Gospel's  influence,  and  seem  to  triumph,  and 
fall  at  last  and  be  forgotten.  Still  Christ  will  go  on  speaking. 
Nothing  can  tear  him  from  his  spiritual  influence  over  men. 
In  every  generation  he  has  man's  noblest  hours  for  his  ally. 

V 

In  the  fact  to  which  our  study  of  man's  variant  moods  has 
brought  us  we  have  not  only  a  confirming  consideration  in 
favor  of  religion's  truth,  but  an  explanation  of  some  people's 

204 


FAITH  AND  MOODS  [VIII-c] 

unbelief.  They  live  habitually  in  their  low  moods ;  they 
inhabit  spiritual  cellars.  We  are  accustomed  to  say  that  some 
friend  would  be  saved  from  his  ignoble  attitudes  by  a  vital 
religious  faith ;  but  it  is  also  true  that  his  persistent  clinging 
to  ignoble  attitudes  may  be  the  factor  that  makes  religious 
faith  impossible.  According  to  Dickens's  "Tale  of  Two  Cities" 
a  prisoner  in  the  Bastille,  who  had  lived  in  a  cell  and  cobbled 
shoes  for  many  years,  became  so  enamored  of  the  narrow 
walls,  the  darkness,  the  task's  monotony,  that,  when  liberated, 
he  built  a  cell  at  the  center  of  his  English  home,  and  on  days 
when  the  skies  were  clear  and  birds  were  singing,  the  tap  of 
his  cobbler's  hammer  in  the  dark  could  still  be  heard.  So 
men,  by  an  habitual  residence  in  imprisoning  moods,  render  t 
themselves  incapable  of  loving  the  wide  horizons,  the  great 
faiths  and  hopes  of  religion.  They  do  not  merely  make  ex- 
cursions of  transient  emotion  into  morose  hours  and,  like  men 
that  find  that  the  road  is  running  into  malarial  swamps,  turn 
swiftly  to  the  hills.  They  dwell  in  their  moroseness ;  they 
choose  it,  and  often  obstinately  resist  deliverance. 

The  common  moods  that  thus  incapacitate  the  soul  for  faith 
are  easily  seen  in  any  man's  experience.  There  are  sullen 
tempers  when  we  are  churlish  and  want  so  to  be.  There  are 
stupid  tempers,  when  our  soul  is  too  negligent  to  care,  too  dull 
to  ask  for  what  only  aspiring  minds  can  crave  or  find.  There 
are  bored  moods  when  we  feel  about  all  life  what  Malachi's 
people  felt  about  worship,  "Behold,  what  a  weariness  is  it !" 
(Mai.  i :  13)  ;  rebellious  moods  when,  like  Jonah,  deprived  of 
a  comfort  he  desired,  we  cry,  "I  do  well  to  be  angry,  even 
unto  death"  (Jonah  4:9);  suspicious  moods,  when  we  mis- 
trust everyone,  and  even  of  some  righteous  Job  hear  Satan's 
insinuating  sneer,  "Does  Job  fear  God  for  nought?"  (Job 
1:9).  No  man  is  altogether  strange  to  frivolous  hours,  when 
those  thoughts  are  lost  which  must  be  handled  seriously  if  at 
all,  and  wilful  hours,  when  some  private  desire  assumes  the 
center  of  the  stage  and  angrily  resents  another  voice  than 
his.  To  say  that  one  who  habitually  harbors  such  moods 
cannot  know  God  is  only  a  portion  of  the  truth ;  such  a  man 
cannot  know  anything  worth  knowing.  He  can  know  neither 
fine  friends  nor  great  books ;  he  cannot  appreciate  beautiful 
music  or  sublime  scenery ;  he  is  lost  to  the  deepest  loves  of 
family  and  to  every  noble  enthusiasm  for  human  help. 
Athwart  the  knowledge  of  these  most  gracious  and  necessary 

205 


[VIII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

things  stand  our  obtuse,  ignoble  moods.  The  sullen,  stupid, 
bored,  rebellious,  suspicious,  frivolous,  or  wilful  tempers, 
made  into  a  spiritual  residence,  are  the  most  deadly  prison  of 
the  soul.  Of  course  one  who  dwells  there  has  no  confidence 
in  God.  Lord  Shaftesbury,  the  English  philanthropist,  made 
too  sweeping  a  statement  about  this,  but  one  can  see  the  basis 
for  his  judgment:  "Nothing  beside  ill-humor,  either  natural  or 
forced,  can  bring  a  man  to  think  seriously  that  the  world  is 
governed  by  any  devilish  or  malicious  power.  I  very  much 
question  whether  anything  beside  ill-humor  can  be  the  cause 
of  atheism."  At  least  one  may  be  sure  that  where  ill-humor 
habitually  reigns,  vital  faith  in  God  is  made  impossible. 

After  full  acknowledgment,  therefore,  of  the  momentous 
intellectual  problems  of  belief,  we  must  add  that  there  is  a 
moral  qualification  for  faith  in  God.  So  great  a  matter  is  not 
achieved  by  any  sort  of  person,  with  any  kind  of  habitual 
moods  and  tempers.  There  are  views  which  cellar  windows 
io  not  afford;  one  must  have  balconies  to  see  them.  When 
'Jesus  said  that  the  pure  in  heart  are  blessed  because  they 
see  God,  he  was  not  thinking  merely,  perhaps  not  chiefly,  of 
sexual  impurity  as  hindering  vision.  He  was  pleading  for 
a  heart  cleansed  of  all  such  perverse,  morose,  and  wayward 
loods  as  shut  the  blinds  on  the  soul's  windows.  He  knew 
that  men  could  not  easily  escape  the  sense  of  God's  reality  if 
they  kept  their  vision  clear.  On  elevated  days  we  naturally 
think  of  Spirit  as  real,  and  see  ourselves  as  expressions  of 
spiritual  purpose,  our  lives  as  servants  of  a  spiritual  cause. 
When  one  habitually  dwells  in  these  finer  moods,  he  cannot 
tolerate  a  world  where  his  Best  is  a  transient  accident.  He 
must  have  God,  for  faith  in  God  is  the  supreme  assertion  of 
the  reality  and  eternity  of  man's  Best.  Any  man  who  habit- 
ually lives  in  his  finest  moods  will  not  easily  escape  the  pene- 
trating sense  of  God's  reality. 

VI 

The  certainty  with  which  we  tend  to  be  most  deeply  reli- 
gious in  our  best  hours  is  clear  when  we  consider  that  a  man 
does  practically  believe  in  the  things  which  he  counts  of  high- 
est worth.  Lotze,  the  philosopher,  even  says  that  "Faith  is 
the  feeling  that  is  appreciative  of  value."  It  is  conceivable 
that  one  might  be  so  constituted  that  without  any  sense  of 

206 


FAITH  AND  MOODS  [VIII-c] 

value  he  could  study  facts,  as  a  deaf  man  might  observe  a 
symphony.  The  sound-waves  such  a  man  could  mechanically 
measure;  he  could  analyze  the  motions  of  the  players  and 
note  the  reactions  of  the  crowd,  but  he  would  hear  no  music. 
He  would  not  suffuse  the  whole  performance  with  his  musical 
appreciations ;  he  would  neither  like  it  nor  condemn.  Man 
might  be  so  constituted  as  to  face  fares  without  feeling,  but 
he  is  not.  Facts  never  stand  in  our  experience  thus  barren 
and  unappreciated — mere  neutral  things  that  mean  nothing 
and  have  no  value.  The  botanist  in  us  may  analyze  the 
flowers,  but  the  poet  in  us  estimates  them.  The  penologist  in 
us  may  take  the  Bertillon  measurements  of  a  boy,  but  the 
father  in  us  best  can  tell  how  much,  in  spite  of  all  his  sin, 
that  boy  is  worth.  This  power  to  estimate  life's  values  is  the 
fountain  from  which  spring  our  music,  painting,  and  liter- 
ature, our  ideals  and  loves  and  purposes,  our  morals  and  reli- 
gion. Without  it  no  man  can  live  in  the  real  world  at  all. 

If  we  would  know,  therefore,  in  what,  at  our  highest  alti- 
tudes, we  tend  to  believe,  we  should  ask  what  it  is  that  we 
value  must,  when  we  rise  toward  our  best.  In  our  lowest 
hours  what  sordid,  mercenary,  beastly  things  men  may  prize 
each  heart  knows  well.  But  ever  as  we  approach  our  best 
the  things  that  are  worth  most  to  us  become  elevated  and 
refined.  Our  better  moods  open  our  eyes  to  a  world  where 
character  is  of  more  worth  than  all  the  rest  beside,  and 
through  which  moral  purpose  runs,  to  be  served  with  sacri- 
fice. We  become  aware  of  spiritual  values  in  behalf  of  which 
at  need  physical  existence  must  be  willingly  laid  down ;  and 
words  like  honor,  love,  fidelity,  and  service  in  our  hours  of 
insight  have  halos  over  them  that  poorer  moods  cannot  dis- 
cern. Man  at  his  best,  that  is  to  say,  believes  in  an  invisible 
world  of  spiritual  values,  and  he  furnishes  the  final  proof  of 
his  faith's  reality  by  sacrificing  to  it  all  lesser  things.  The 
good,  the  true,  the  beautiful  command  him  in  his  finer  hours, 
and  at  their  beck  and  call  he  lays  down  wealth  and  ease  and 
earthly  hopes  to  be  their  servant.  Men  really  do  believe  in 
the  things  for  which  they  sacrifice  and  die. 

In  no  more  searching  way  can  a  man's  faith  be  described 
than  in  terms  of  the  objects  which  tints  he  values  most. 
Wherever  men  find  some  consuming  aim  that  is  for  them  so 
supreme  in  worth  that  they  sacrifice  all  else  to  win  it,  we 
speak  of  their  attitude  as  a  religion.  The  "religion  of  science" 

207 


[VIII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

describes  the  absolute  devotion  of  investigators  to  scientific 
research  as  the  highest  good;  the  "religion  of  art"  describes 
the  consuming  passion  with  which  some  value  beauty.  When 
we  say  of  one  that  "money  is  his  God"  we  mean  that  he  esti- 
mates it  as  life's  highest  treasure,  and  when  with  Paul  we 
speak  of  others,  "whose  god  is  the  belly"  (Phil.  3:19),  we 
mean  men  whose  sensual  life  is  to  them  the  thing  worth  most. 
What  men  believe  in,  therefore,  is  most  deeply  seen  not  by 
any  opinions  which  they  profess,  but  by  the  things  they  prise. 
Faith,  as  Ruskin  said,  is  "that  by  which  men  act  while  they 
live;  not  that  which  they  talk  of  when  they  die."  Many  a 
man  uses  pious  affirmations  of  Christian  faith,  but  it  is  easy 
to  observe  from  his  life  that  what  he  really  believes  in  is 
money.  Where  a  man's  treasure  is,  as  Jesus  said,  his  heart  is, 
and  there  his  faith  is,  too. 

Is  there  any  doubt,  then,  what  we  most  believe  in  when  we 
are  at  our  best?  While  in  our  lower  altitudes  it  may  be  easy 
to  believe  that  the  physical  is  the  ultimately  real,  in  our  upper 
altitudes  we  so  value  the  spiritual  world,  that  we  tend  with 
undeniable  conviction  to  feel  sure  that  it  must  be  causal  and 
eternal.  Materialism  is  man's  "night-view"  of  his  life;  but  the 
"day-view"  is  religion.  Tyndall  the  scientist  was  regarded  by 
the  Christians  of  his  generation  as  the  enemy  of  almost  every- 
thing that  they  held  dear.  Let  him,  then,  be  witness  for  the 
truth  which  we  have  stated.  "I  have  noticed,"  he  said,  speak- 
ing of  materialism,  "during  years  of  self-observation,  that  it 
is  not  in  hours  of  clearness  and  vigor  that  this  doctrine  com- 
mends itself  to  my  mind." 

The  challenge,  therefore,  presented  to  every  one  of  us  by 
Christian  faith  is  ultimately  this :  Shall  I  believe  the  testi- 
mony of  my  better  hours  or  of  my  worse?  Many  who  deny 
the  central  affirmations  of  the  Gospel  put  the  object  of  their 
denial  far  away  from  them  as  though  it  were  an  external 
thing;  they  say  that  they  deny  the  creed  or  the  Bible  or  the 
doctrine  about  God.  Such  a  description  of  a  man's  rejection 
of  religious  faith  is  utterly  inadequate — the  real  object  of  his 
denial  is  inward.  One  may,  indeed,  discredit  forms  of  doc- 
trine and  either  be  unsure  about  or  altogether  disbelieve  many 
things  that  Christians  hold,  but  when  one  makes  a  clean 
sweep  of  religion  and  banishes  the  central  faiths  of  Chris- 
tianity he  is  denying  the  testimony  of  his  own  finest  days. 
From  such  rejection  of  faith  one  need  not  appeal  to  creed  nor 

208 


FAITH  AND  MOODS  [VIII-c] 

Bible,  nor  to  anything  that  anybody  ever  said.  Let  the  chal- 
lenge strike  inward  to  the  man's  own  heart.  From  his  denial 
of  religious  faith  we  may  appeal  to  the  hours  that  he  has 
known  and  yet  will  know  again,  when  the  road  rose  under  his 
feet  and  from  a  height  he  looked  on  wide  horizons  and  knew 
that  he  was  at  his  best.  To  those  hours  of  clear  insight,  of 
keen  thought,  of  love  and  great  devotion,  when  he  knew 
that  the  spiritual  is  the  real  and  the  eternal,  we  may  appeal. 
They  were  his  best.  He  knows  that  they  were  his  best.  And 
as  long  as  humanity  lives  upon  the  earth  this  conviction  must 
underlie  great  living — that  we  will  not  deny  the  validity  of 
our  own  best  hours. 


209 


CHAPTER  IX 

Faith  in  the  Earnest  God 


DAILY  READINGS 

Throughout  our  studies  we  have  been  thinking  of  the  effect 
of  faith  on  the  one  who  exercises  it.  As  an  introduction  to 
this  week's  thought  on  the  earnestness  of  God,  let  us  ap- 
proach the  effect  of  faith  from  another  angle.  Faith  has 
enormous  influence  on  the  one  in  whom  it  is  reposed ;  not  only 
the  believer  but  the  one  in  whom  he  believes  is  affected 
by  his  faith. 

Ninth  Week,  First  Day 

I  commend  unto  you  Phoebe  our  sister,  who  is  a  servant 
of  the  church  that  is  at  Cenchreae:  that  ye  receive  her  in 
the  Lord,  worthily  of  the  saints,  and  that  ye  assist  her  in 
whatsoever  matter  she  may  have  need  of  you:  for  she 
herself  also  hath  been  a  helper  of  many,  and  of  mine  own 
self. 

Salute  Prisca  and  Aquila  my  fellow-workers  in  Christ 
Jesus,  who  for  my  life  laid  down  their  own  necks;  unto 
whom  not  only  I  give  thanks,  but  also  all  the  churches 
of  the  Gentiles:  and  salute  the  church  that  is  in  their 
house.  Salute  Epaenetus  my  beloved,  who  is  the  first- 
fruits  of  Asia  unto  Christ.  Salute  Mary,  who  bestowed 
much  labor  on  you.  Salute  Andronicus  and  Junias,  my 
kinsmen,  and  my  fellow-prisoners,  who  are  of  note  among 
the  apostles,  who  also  have  been  in  Christ  before  me. 
Salute  Ampliatus  my  beloved  in  the  Lord. — Rom.  16:  1-8. 

This  series  of  .personal  commendations  is  only  the  begin- 
ning of  the  last  chapter  of  Paul's  letter  to  the  Romans.  All 
the  way  through  one  hears  the  individual  names  of  Paul's 
friends  and  fellow-laborers,  with  his  discriminating  and  hearty 
praise  of  each.  It  is  clear  that  he  has  faith  in  these  men 

210 


FAITH  IN  THE  EARNEST  GOD  [IX-2] 

and  women ;  he  believes  in  them  and  relies  on  them.  Con- 
sider the  effect  on  them  that  Paul's  confidence  in  their  Chris- 
tian fidelity  would  naturally  have.  There  is  no  motive  much 
more  stirring  than  the  consciousness  that  somebody  believes 
in  us,  is  trusting  and  counting  on  us.  Whatever  is  fine  and 
noble  in  human  life  responds  to  that  appeal.  Soldiers  who 
feel  that  their  country  is  relying  upon  their  fidelity,  children 
who  are  conscious  that  their  parents  believe  in  them,  friends 
who  are  heartened  by  the  assurance  that  some  folk  com- 
pletely trust  them — how  much  of  the  best  in  all  of  us  has  come 
because  we  have  been  the  objects  of  somebody's  faith!  A 
Connecticut  volunteer  in  the  American  Revolution  has  writ- 
ten that  George  Washington  once  paused  for  a  moment  in 
front  of  his  company  and  said  simply,  "I  am  counting  on 
you  men  from  Connecticut."  And  the  recruit  clasped  his 
musket  in  his  arms  and  wept  with  the  devotion  which  Wash- 
ington's confidence  evoked.  Would  not  the  sixteenth  chapter 
of  Romans  have  a  similar  effect  on  those  who  read  it? 

O  Thou  loving  and  tender  Father  in  heaven,  we  confess 
before  Thee,  in  sorrow,  how  hard  and  unsympathetic  are  our 
hearts;  how  often  we  have  sinned  against  our  neighbors 
by  want  of  compassion  and  tenderness;  how  often  we  have 
felt  no  true  pity  for  their  trials  and  sorrows,  and  have 
neglected  to  comfort,  help,  and  visit  them.  O  Father,  forgive 
this  our  sin,  and  lay  it  not  to  our  charge.  Give  us  grace  ever 
to  alleviate  the  crosses  and  difficulties  of  those  around  us, 
and  never  to  add  to  them;  teach  us  to  be  consolers  in  sorrow, 
to  take  thought  for  the  stranger,  the  ^i'idow,  and  the  orphan; 
let  our  charity  show  itself  not  in  words  only,  but  in  deed  and 
truth.  Teach  us  to  fudge  as  Thou  dost,  with  forbearance, 
with  much  pity  and  indulgence;  and  help  us  to  avoid  all  un- 
loving judgment  of  others;  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ  Thy 
Son,  Who  loved  us  and  gave  Himself  for  us.  Amen. — 
Johann  Arndt,  1555. 

Ninth  Week,  Second  Day 

And  it  came  to  pass  in  these  days,  that  he  went  out 
into  the  mountain  to  pray;  and  he  continued  all  night  in 
prayer  to  God.  And  when  it  was  day,  he  called  his 
disciples;  and  he  chose  from  them  twelve,  whom  also 
he  named  apostles:  Simon,  whom  he  also  named  Peter, 

211 


[IX-2]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

and  Andrew  his  brother,  and  James  and  John,  and  Philip 
and  Bartholomew,  and  Matthew  and  Thomas,  and  James 
the  son  of  Alphaeus,  and  Simon  who  was  called  the  Zealot, 
and  Judas  the  son  of  James,  and  Judas  Iscariot,  who  be- 
came a  traitor. — Luke  6:  12-16. 

The  power  that  comes  to  men  when  someone  believes  in 
them  must  have  come  to  these  disciples  whom  Jesus  trusted 
with  his  work.  We  often  note  the  power  that  was  theirs 
through  their  faith  in  Christ ;  consider  today  the  inspiration 
that  came  from  Christ's  faith  in  them.  He  picked  them  out, 
commissioned  them,  relied  on  them,  and  believed  in  their 
ability  with  God's  help  to  carry  his  work  to  a  successful  issue. 
All  that  is  most  distinctive  and  memorable  in  their  character 
came  from  their  response  to  that  divine  trust.  How  they 
must  have  encouraged  themselves  in  times  of  failure  and 
disheartenment  by  saying:  He  believes  in  us;  even  though 
we  are  ignorant  and  sinful,  he  believes  in  us ;  he  has  trusted 
his  work  to  us,  and  for  all  our  inability  he  has  faith  that 
we  can  carry  it  to  triumph !  Their  faith  in  themselves  and 
what  they  could  do  with  God's  help  must  have  been  almost 
altogether  a  reflex  of  his  faith  in  them.  Our  contention, 
therefore,  that  faith  is  the  dynamic  of  life  has  now  a  new 
confirmation :  the  faith  that  lifts  and  motives  life  is  not  simply 
our  faith  in  the  Divine,  but  the  faith  of  the  Divine  in  us. 
One  of  the  most  glorious  results  of  believing  in  God  is  that 
a  man  can  press  on  to  the  further  confidence  that  God  be- 
lieves in  us.  If  he  did  not,  he  would  never  have  made  us. 
The  very  fact  that  we  are  here  means  that  he  does  believe 
in  us,  in  our  possibilities  of  growth,  in  our  capacities  of  serv- 
ice, in  what  he  can  do  in  and  for  and  through  us  before  he 
is  done.  Man's  faith  in  God  and  God's  faith  in  man  together 
make  an  unequalled  motive  for  great  living.  Yet  there  is 
always  a  sad  appendix  to  every  list  of  trusted  men,  with 
somebody's  blighted  name :  "Judas  Iscariot,  who  became  a 
traitor." 

Loving  Father,  our  hearts  are  moved  to  gratitude  and 
trust  "when  we  look  up  to  Thee.  We  rejoice  that  through  our 
fleeting  days  there  runs  Thy  gracious  purpose.  We  praise 
Thee  that  we  are  not  the  creatures  of  chance,  nor  the  victims 
of  iron  fate,  but  that  out  from  Thee  we  have  come  and  into 
Thy  bosom  we  shall  return.  We  would  not,  even  if  we  could, 

212 


FAITH  IN  THE  EARNEST  GOD  [IX-3] 

escape  Thee.  Thou  alone  art  good,  and  to  escape  from  Thee 
is  to  fall  into  infinite  evil.  Thy  hand  is  upon  us  moving  us 
on  to  some  far-off  spiritual  event,  where  the  meaning  and  the 
mystery  of  life  shall  be  made  plain  and  Thy  glory  shall  be 
revealed.  Look  in  pity  upon  our  ignorance  and  childishness. 
Forgive  us  our  small  understanding  of  Thy  purpose  of  good 
concerning  us.  Be  not  angry  with  us,  but  draw  us  from  the 
things  of  this  world  which  cannot  satisfy  our  foolish  hearts. 
Fill  us  with  Thyself,  that  we  may  no  longer  be  a  burden  to 
ourselves.  So  glorify  the  face  of  goodness  that  evil  shall 
have  no  more  dominion  over  us.  Amen. — Samuel  McComb. 

Ninth  Week,  Third  Day 

The  fact  that  God  has  faith  in  us  is  not  alone  a  source  of 
comfort;  it  presents  a  stirring  challenge.  It  means  that  he 
is  in  earnest  about  achieving  his  great  purposes  in  human  life 
and  that  he  is  counting  upon  us  to  help.  He  has  set  his  heart 
on  aims,  about  which  he  cares,  and  to  whose  achievement 
he  is  calling  us ;  he  is  confident  that  with  him  we  can  work 
out,  if  we  will,  loftier  character  and  a  better  world.  Let  us 
consider  some  of  the  purposes  which  God  is  counting  on  us, 
in  fellowship  with  him,  to  achieve.  The  prophet  Micah,  in 
a  brief  but  perfect  drama,  gives  one  clue.  First  the  Lord 
summons  his  people  to  a  trial,  with  the  eternal  mountains 
for  judges : 

Hear  ye  now  what  Jehovah  saith:  Arise,  contend  thou 
before  the  mountains,  and  let  the  hills  hear  thy  voice. 
Hear,  O  ye  mountains,  Jehovah's  controversy,  and  ye 
enduring  foundations  of  the  earth;  for  Jehovah  hath  a 
controversy  with  his  people,  and  he  will  contend  with 
Israel. — Micah  6:  i,  2. 

Then,  the  Lord  presents  his  case : 

O  my  people,  what  have  I  done  unto  thee?  and  wherein 
have  I  wearied  thee?  testify  against  me.  For  I  brought 
thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  redeemed  thee  out 
of  the  house  of  bondage;  and  I  sent  before  thee  Moses, 
Aaron,  and  Miriam.  O  my  people,  remember  now  what 
Balak  king  of  Moab  devised,  and  what  Balaam  the  son 
of  Beor  answered  him;  remember  from  Shittim  unto 
Gilgal,  that  ye  may  know  the  righteous  acts  of  Jehovah. 
— Micah  6:  3-5. 

213 


[IX-3]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

* 

Then  the  people  put  in  their  hesitant,  questioning  plea. 

Wherewith  shall  I  come  before  Jehovah,  and  bow 
myself  before  the  high  God?  shall  I  come  before  him  with 
burnt-offerings,  with  calves  a  year  old?  will  Jehovah  be 
pleased  with  thousands  of  rams,  or  with  ten  thousands 
of  rivers  of  oil?  shall  I  give  my  first-born  for  my  trans- 
gression, the  fruit  of  my  body  for  the  sin  of  my  soul? — 
Micah  6:  6,  7. 

Then  the  mountains  pronounce  judgment: 

He  hath  showed  thee,  O  man,  what  is  good;  and  what 
doth  Jehovah  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love 
kindness,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God? — Micah 
6:  8. 

God,  then,  is  in  earnest  about  just,  kind,  and  humble  charac- 
ter. He  believes  in  it  as  a  possibility;  he  sees  the  making 
of  it  now  in  human  hearts ;  he  is  pledged  to  further  and 
establish  it  with  all  his  power ;  and  he  is  counting  on  us  for 
loyal  cooperation  with  all  our  powers  of  choice.  Vital  faith 
means  a  transforming  partnership  with  a  God  who  is  in  ear^ 
nest  about  character. 

O  Thou  Who  art  the  Father  of  that  Son  which  hast  awak- 
ened us  and  yet  urgeth  us  out  of  the  sleep  of  our  sins,  and 
cxhorteth  us  that  we  become  Thine,  to  Thee,  Lord,  we  pray, 
Who  art 'the  supreme  Truth,  for  all  truth  that  is,  is  from 
Thee.  Thee  we  implore,  O  Lord,  Who  art  the  highest  Wis- 
dom, through  Thee  are  wise,  all  those  that  are  so.  Thou  art 
the  supreme  Joy,  and  from  Thee  all  have  become  happy  that 
are  so.  Thou  art  the  highest  Good  and  from  Thee  all  beauty 
springs.  Thou  art  the  intellectual  Light,  and  from  Thee  man 
derives  his  understanding.  To  Thee,  O  God,  we  call  and 
speak.  Hear  us,  O  Lord,  for  Thou  art  our  God  and  our 
Lord,  our  Father  and  our  Creator,  our  Ruler  and  our  Hope, 
our  Wealth  and  our  Honor,  our  Home,  our  Country,  our 
Salvation,  and  our  Life;  hear,  hear  us,  O  Lord.  Few' of 
Thy  servants  comprehend  Thee,  but  at  least  we  love  Thee — 
yea,  love  Thee  above  all  other  things.  We  seek  Thee,  we 
follow  Thee,  we  are  ready  to  serve  Thee ;  under  Thy  power 
we  desire  to  abide,  for  Thou  art  the  Sovereign  of  all.  We 
pray  Thee  to  command  us  as  Thou  wilt;  through  Jesus  Christ 
Thy  Son  our  Lord.  Amen. — King  Alfred,  849. 

214 


FAITH  IN  THE  EARNEST  GOD  [IX-4] 

Ninth  Week,  Fourth  Day 

God  also  is  in  earnest  about  social  righteousness. 

I  hate,  I  despise  your  feasts,  and  I  will  take  no  delight 
in  your  solemn  assemblies.  Yea,  though  ye  offer  me  your 
burnt-offerings  and  meal-offerings,  I  will  not  accept  them; 
neither  will  I  regard  the  peace-offerings  of  your  fat  beasts. 
Take  thou  away  from  me  the  noise  of  thy  songs;  for  I 
will  not  hear  the  melody  of  thy  viols.  But  let  justice 
roll  down  as  waters,  and  righteousness  as  a  mighty  stream. 
— Amos  5:  21-24. 

Anyone  who  cares  about  character  must  care  about  social 
conditions,  for  every  unfair  economic  situation,  every  social 
evil  left  to  run  its  course  means  ruin  to  character.  And  the 
God  of  the  Bible,  because  he  cares  supremely  for  personal 
life  at  its  best,  is  zealously  in  earnest  about  social  justice; 
his  prophets  blazed  with  indignation  at  all  inequity,  and  his 
Son  made  the  coming  Kingdom,  when  God's  will  would  be 
done  on  earth,  the  center  of  his  message.  To  fellowship 
with  this  earnest  purpose  of  God  we  all  are  summoned ;  God 
believes  in  the  glorious  possibilities  of  life  on  earth;  he  is 
counting  on  us  to  put  away  the  sins  that  hold  the  Kingdom 
back  and  to  fight  the  abuses  that  crush  character  in  men.  To 
believe  in  God,  therefore — the  God  who  is  fighting  his  way 
with  his  children  up  through  ignorance,  brutality,  and  selfish- 
ness to  "new  heavens  and  a  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  right- 
eousness"— is  no  weakly  comfortable  blessing.  It  means  join- 
ing a  moral  war ;  it  means  devotion,  sacrifice ;  its  spirit  is 
the  Cross  and  its  motive  an  undiscourageable  faith.  And  our 
underlying  assurance  that  this  war  for  a  better  world  can 
be  won  is  not  simply  our  belief  that  it  can  be  done,  but  our 
faith  that  God  is,  and  that  he  believes  that  it  can  be  done. 
\Yhen  we  pray  we  say,  "Thy  Kingdom  come,"  and  we  are 
full  of  hope  about  the  long,  sacrificial  struggle,  for  the  pur- 
pose behind  and  through  it  all  is  first  of  all  God's.  Our 
earnestness  is  but  an  echo  of  his. 

O  Thou  Eternal  One,  we  adore  Thee  who  in  all  ages  hast 
been  the  great  companion  and  teacher  of  mankind;  for  Thou 
hast  lifted  our  race  from  the  depths,  and  hast  made  us  to 
share  in  Thy  conscious  intelligence  and  Thy  will  that  makes 

215 


[IX-5]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

for  righteousness  and  love.  Thou  alone  art  our  Redeemer, 
for  Thy  lifting  arms  were  about  us  and  Thy  persistent  voice 
•was  in  our  hearts  as  we  slowly  climbed  up  from  savage 
darkness  and  cruelty.  Thou  knowest  how  often  we  have 
resisted  Thee  and  loved  the  easy  ways  of  sin  rather  than  the 
toilsome  gain  of  self-control  and  the  divine  irritation  of  Thy 
truth.  .  .  . 

We  pray  Thee  for  those  who  amid  all  the  knowledge  of  our 
•day  are  still  without  knowledge ;  for  those  who  hear  not  the 
sighs  of  the  children  that  toil,  nor  the  sobs  of  such  as  are 
wounded  because  others  have  made  haste  to  be  rich;  for  those 
-who  have  never  felt  the  hot  tears  of  the  mothers  of  the  poor 
that  struggle  vainly  against  poverty  and  vice.  Arouse  them, 
•we  beseech  Thee,  from  their  selfish  comfort  and  grant  them 
the  grace  of  social  repentance.  Smite  us  all  with  the  con- 
viction that  for  us  ignorance  is  sin,  and  that  we  are  indeed 
our  brother's  keeper  if  our  own  hand  has  helped  to  lay  him 
low.  Though  increase  of  knowledge  bring  increase  of  sorrow, 
may  we  turn  without  flinching  to  the  light  and  offer  ourselves 
as  instruments  of  Thy  spirit  in  bringing  order  and  beauty 
•out  of  disorder  and  darkness.  Amen. — Walter  Rauschenbusch. 

Ninth  Week,  Fifth  Day 

The  thought  which  we  have  been  pursuing  leads  us  to  a 
truth  of  major  importance:  if  God  is  thus  in  earnest,  believ- 
ing in  man's  possibilities  and  laboring  for  them,  then  he  can- 
not be  known  by  anyone  whc  does  not  sh^re  his  purpose  and 
his  labor.  Action  is  a  road  to  knowledge  and  some  things 
never  can  be  known  without  it.  If  one  would  know  the 
business  world,  he  must  be  an  active  business  man  ;  no  amount 
of  abstract  study  and  speculation  can  take  the  place  of  vital 
participation  in  business  struggle.  The  way  to  understand  any 
•movement  or  enterprise  is  to  go  into  it,  share  its  enthusiasms 
and  hopes,  labor  sacrificially  for  its  success,  bear  its  defeats 
as  though  they  were  our  own,  and  rejoice  in  its  achieve- 
ments as  though  nothing  so  much  mattered  to  our  happiness. 
Such  knowledge  is  thorough  and  vital ;  when  one  who  so 
"has  learned  what  war  is,  or  the  missionary  enterprise,  or  the 
fight  against  the  liquor  traffic,  stands  up  to  speak,  a  merely 
theoretical  student  of  these  movements  sounds  unreal  and 
tame.  If  therefore  God  is  earnest  Purpose,  with  aims  in 

216 


FAITH  IN  THE  EARNEST  GOD  [IX-sJ 

which  he  calls  us  to  share,  no  one  can  thoroughly  know  him 
merely  by  thinking ;  he  must  know  him  by  acting. 

But  he  that  doeth  the  truth  cometh  to  the  light,  that 
his  works  may  be  made  manifest,  that  they  have  been 
wrought  in  God. — John  3:  21. 

Jesus  therefore  answered  them,  and  said,  My  teaching 
is  not  mine,  but  his  that  sent  me.  If  any  man  willeth  to- 
do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  teaching,  whether  it  is 
of  God,  or  whether  I  speak  from  myself. — John  7:  16,  17. 

Many  people  endeavor  to  reach  a  satisfactory  knowledge 
of  God  by  clarifying  their  thought  and  working  out  a  rational 
philosophy.  But,  by  such  intellectual  means  alone,  they  could 
not  gain  satisfactory  knowledge  of  so  familiar  a  thing  as 
home  life.  To  know  home  life  one  elemental  act  is  essential: 
get  into  a  home  and  share  its  problems,  its  satisfactions,  and 
its  hopes.  So  the  most  adequate  philosophy  by  itself  can 
bring  no  satisfactory  knowledge  of  God ;  only  by  working 
with  God,  sharing  his  purposes  for  the  world,  sacrificially 
laboring  for  the  aims  he  has  at  heart  can  men  know  him. 

Eternal  God,  who  hast  formed  us,  and  designed  us  for 
companionship  with  Thee;  who.  hast  called  us  to  walk  with 
Thee  and  be  not  afraid;  forgive  us,  we  pray  Thee,  if  craven 
1  fear,  unworthy  thought,  or  hidden  sin  has  prompted  us  to 
hide  from  Thee.  Remove  the  suspicion  which  regards  Thy 
service  as  an  intrusion  on  our  time  and  an  interference  with 
our  daily  task.  Shew  to  us  the  life  that  serves  Thee  in  the 
quiet  discharge  of  each  day's  duty,  that  ennobles  all  our  toil 
by  doing  it  as  unto  Thee.  We  ask  for  no  far-off  vision  which 
shall  set  us  dreaming  while  opportunities  around  slip  by;  for 
no  enchantment  which  shall  make  our  hands  to  slack  and 
our  spirits  to  sleep,  but  for  the  vision  of  Thyself  in  common 
things  for  every  day;  that  we  may  find  a  Divine  calling  in  the 
claims  of  life,  and  see  a  heavenly  reward  in  work  well  done. 
We  ask  Thee  not  to  lift  us  out  of  life,  but  to  prove  Thy  power 
within  it;  not  for  tasks  more  suited  to  our  strength,  but  for 
strength  more  suited  to  our  tasks.  Give  to  us  the  vision  that 
moves,  the  strength  that  endures,  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ, 
who  wore  our  flesh  like  a  monarch's  robe  and  walked  our 
earthly  life  like  a  conqueror  in  triumph.  Amen. — W.  E. 
Orchard. 

217 


[IX-6]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 


Ninth  Week,  Sixth  Day 

Because  action  with  God  is  essential  to  any  satisfying 
knowledge  of  him,  action  is  one  of  the  great  resolvers  of 
doubt.  Many  minds,  endeavoring  to  think  through  the  mysti- 
fying problems  of  God's  providence,  find  themselves  in  a 
clueless  labyrinth.  The  more  they  think  the  more  entangled 
and  confused  their  minds  become.  Their  thoughts  strike  a 
fatal  circle,  like  wanderers  lost  in  the  woods,  and  return  upon 
their  course,  baffled  and  disheartened.  To  such  perplexed 
minds  the  best  advice  often  is :  Cease  your  futile  thinking 
and  go  to  work.  Let  action  take  the  place  of  speculation. 
Break  the  fatal  round  of  circular  thought  that  never  will 
arrive,  and  go  out  to  act  on  the  basis  of  what  little  you 
do  believe.  Your  mind  like  a  dammed  stream  is  growing 
stagnant ;  set  it  running  to  some  useful  purpose,  if  only  to 
turn  mill-wheels,  and  trust  that  activity  will  bring  it  cleans- 
ing in  due  time.  Horace  Bushnell,  the  great  preacher,  while 
a  skeptical  tutor  at  Yale,  was  disturbed  because  so  many 
students  were  unsettled  by  his  disbelief.  In  the  midst  of  a 
revival  he  said  that  like  a  great  snag  he  caught  and  stopped 
the  newly  launched  boats  as  fast  as  they  came  down.  Unable 
to  think  his  way  out  of  his  intellectual  perplexity,  he  faced 
one  night  this  arresting  question :  "What  is  the  use  of  my 
trying  to  get  further  knowledge,  so  long  as  I  do  not  cheer- 
fully yield  to  what  I  already  know  ?"  And  kneeling  he  prayed 
after  this  fashion :  "O  God,  I  believe  there  is  an  eternal 
difference  between  right  and  wrong,  and  I  hereby  give  my- 
self up  to  do  the  right  and  to  refrain  from  the  wrong.  I 
believe  that  Thou  dost  exist,  and  if  Thou  canst  hear  my  cry 
and  wilt  reveal  Thyself  to  me,  I  pledge  myself  to  do  Thy 
will,  and  I  make  this  pledge  fully,  freely,  and  forever." 
What  wonder  that  in  time  the  light  broke  and  that  Bushnell 
became  a  great  prophet  of  the  faith ! 

Even  Paul,  finishing  his  laborious  discussion  of  God's 
providence  toward  Israel,  acknowledges  his  baffled  thought : 

O  the  depth  of  the  riches  both  of  the  wisdom  and  the 
knowledge  of  God!  how  unsearchable  are  his  judgments, 
and  his  ways  past  tracing  out!  For  who  hath  known 
the  mind  of  the  Lord?  or  who  hath  been  his  counsellor? 
or  who  hath  first  given  to  him,  and  it  shall  be  recompensed 

218 


FAITH  IN  THE  EARNEST  GOD  [IX-;] 

unto  him  again?  For  of  him,  and  through  him,  and  unto 
him,  are  all  things.  To  him  be  the  glory  for  ever.  Amen. 
— Rom.  ii :  33-36. 

And  then,  as  if  he  turned  from  philosophy  to  action  with 
gratitude,  he  begins  the  twelfth  chapter : 

I  beseech  you  therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of 
God,  to  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy,  ac- 
ceptable to  God,  which  is  your  spiritual  service.  And 
be  not  fashioned  according  to  this  world:  but  be  ye  trans- 
formed by  the  renewing  of  your  mind,  that  ye  may  prove 
what  is  the  good  and  acceptable  and  perfect  will  of  God. 
— Rom.  12:  i,  2. 

O  God,  we  thank  Thcc  for  the  sweet  refreshment  of  sleep 
and  for  the  glory  and  vigor  of  the  new  day.  As  we  set  our 
faces  once  more  toward  our  daily  work,  w*c  pray  Thee  for 
the  strength  sufficient  for  our  tasks.  May  Christ's  spirit  of 
duty  and  service  ennoble  all  zee  do.  Uphold  us  by  the  con- 
sciousness that  our  work  is  useful  work  and  a  blessing  to  all. 
If  there  has  been  anything  in  our  work  harmful  to  others 
and  dishonorable  to  ourselves,  reveal  it  to  our  inner  eye  with 
such  clearness  that  we  shall  hate  it  and  put  it  away,  though 
it  be  at  a  loss  to  ourselves.  When  we  work  with  others,  help 
us  to  regard  them,  not  as  servants  to  our  will,  but  as  brothers 
equal  to  us  in  human  dignity,  and  equally  worthy  of  their 
full  reward.  May  there  be  nothing  in  this  day's  work  of 
which  we  shall  be  ashamed  when  the  sun  has  set,  nor  in  the 
eventide  of  our  life  when  our  task  is  done  and  we  go  to  our 
long  home  to  meet  Thy  face.  Amen. — Walter  Rauschen- 
busch. 

Ninth  Week,  Seventh  Day 

Then  shall  the  King  say  unto  them  on  his  right  hand, 
Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  pre- 
pared for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world:  for  I 
was  hungry,  and  ye  gave  me  to  eat;  I  was  thirsty,  and  ye 
gave  me  drink;  I  was  a  stranger,  and  ye  took  me  in; 
naked,  and  ye  clothed  me;  I  was  sick,  and  ye  visited 
me;  I  was  in  prison,  and  yc  came  unto  me.  Then  shall 
the  righteous  answer  him,  saying,  Lord,  when  saw  we  thee 
hungry,  and  fed  thee?  or  athirst,  and  gave  thee  drink? 
And  when  saw  we  thee  a  stranger,  and  took  thee  in?  or 
naked,  and  clothed  thee?  And  when  saw  we  thee  sick, 

219 


[IX-7]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

or  in  prison,  and  came  unto  thee?  And  the  King  shall 
answer  and  say  unto  them,  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Inas- 
much as  ye  did  it  unto  one  of  these  my  brethren,  even 
these  least,  ye  did  it  unto  me. — Matt.  25:  34-40. 

The  earnestness  of  God  is  not  about  any  diffuse  generality; 
it  is  about  persons.  His  purposes  concern  them,  and  he  be- 
lieves in  them  and  in  their  capacities  for  fellowship  with 
him,  for  growing  character  and  for  glorious  destiny.  If, 
therefore,  one  wishes  the  sense  of  God's  reality  which  comes 
from  active  co-partnership,  let  him  serve  persons,  believe  in 
them,  and  be  in  earnest  about  them.  A  woman,  troubled  by 
invincible  .doubts,  was  given  by  a  wise  minister  the  Gospel 
of  John  and  a  calling-list  of  needy  families,  and  was  told  to 
use  them  both.  She  came  through  into  a  luminous  faith,  and 
which  helped  her  more,  her  reading  or  her  service,  she  could 
never  tell.  When  the  Master  said  that  the  good  we  did  to 
the  least  of  his  brethren,  we  did  to  him,  he  indicated  a  road 
to  vital  knowledge  of  him ;  he  said  in  effect  that  we  can  al- 
ways find  him  in  the  lives  of  people  to  whom  we  give  love 
and  help.  Many  will  never  find  him  at  all  unless  they  find 
him  there.  The  great  believers  have  been  the  great  servants ; 
and  the  reason  for  this  is  not  simply  that  faith  produced 
service,  but  also  that  service  produced  faith.  The  life  of  Sir 
Wilfred  Grenfell,  for  example,  makes  convincingly  plain  that 
his  faith  sent  him  to  Labrador  for  service,  and  that  then  he 
drew  out  of  service  a  compound  interest  on  his  original  in- 
vestment of  faith. 

O  God,  the  Father  of  the  forsaken,  the  Help  of  the  weak, 
the  Supplier  of  the  needy,  Who  hast  diffused  and  proportioned 
Thy  gifts  to  body  and  soul,  in  such  sort  that  all  may  acknowl- 
edge and  perform  the  joyous  duty  of  mutual  service;  Who 
teachest  us  that  love  towards  the  race  of  men  is  the  bond 
of  perfectncss,  and  the  imitation  of  Thy  blessed  Self;  open 
our  eyes  and  touch  our  hearts,  that  we  may  see  and  do,  both 
for  this  world  and  for  that  which  is  to  come,  the  things 
which  belong  to  our  peace.  Strengthen  us  in  the  work  we 
have  undertaken;  give  us  counsel  and  wisdom,  perseverance, 
faith,  and  zeal,  and  in  Thine  own  good  time,  and  according 
to  Thy  pleasure,  prosper  the  issue.  Pour  into  us  a  spirit  of 
humility ;  let  nothing  be  done  but  in  devout  obedience  to  Thy 

220 


FAITH  IN  THE  EARNEST  GOD  [IX-cJ 

will,  thankfulness  for  Thine  unspeakable  mercies,  and  love 
to  Thine  adorable  Son  Christ  Jesus.  .  .  .  Amen.— Earl  of 
Shaftesbury,  1801. 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 

I 

Throughout  our  studies  we  have  been  asserting  that  faith  in 
God  involves  confidence  that  creation  has  a  purpose.  But  we 
shall  not  see  the  breadth  and  depth  of  the  affirmation,  or  its 
significant  meaning  for  our  lives,  unless  more  carefully  we 
face  a  question,  which,  as  keenly  as  any  other,  pierces  to  the 
marrow  of  religion:  Is  God  in  earnest/ 

That  the  God  of  the  Bible  is  in  earnest  is  plain.  If  we  open 
the  Book  at  the  Exodus,  we  hear  him  saying,  "I  have  surely 
seen  the  affliction  of  my  people,  .  .  .  and  have  heard  their 
cry,  .  .  .  and  I  am  come  down  to  deliver  them"  (Exodus 
3 :  7,  8).  If  we  turn  to  the  prophets,  we  find  Hosea,  interpret- 
ing the  beating  of  God's  heart:  "How  am  I  to  give  thee  up,  O 
Ephraim?  How  am  I  to  let  thee  go,  O  Israel?  How  am  I 
to  give  thee  up?  My  heart  is  turned  upon  me,  my  compas- 
sions begin  to  boil"1  (Hos.  11:8).  Everywhere  in  the  Old 
Testament,  God  is  in  earnest :  about  personal  character — 
"What  doth  Jehovah  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly,  and  to 
love  kindness,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God?"  (Micah 
6:8);  about  social  righteousness — "Let  justice  roll  down  as 
waters,  and  righteousness  as  a  mighty  stream"  (Amos  5 : 24)  ; 
about  the  salvation  of  the  world — "It  is  too  light  a  thing  that 
thou  shouldest  be  my  servant  to  raise  up  the  tribes  of  Jacob 
and  to  restore  the  preserved  of  Israel :  I  will  also  give  thee 
for  a  light  to  the  Gentiles,  that  thou  mayest  be  my  salvation 
unto  the  end  of  the  earth"  (Isa.  49:6).  When  from  the  Old 
Testament  one  turns  to  the  New,  he  faces  an  assertion  of 
God's  earnestness  that  cannot  be  surpassed :  "God  so  loved  the 
world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son."  God  in  the  New 
Testament  is  as  much  in  earnest  as  that,  and  all  the  major 
affirmations  of  the  Book  cluster  about  the  magnetism  of  this 
central  faith.  God  is  even  like  a  shepherd  with  a  hundred 
sheep,  who  having  lost  one,  leaves  the  ninety  and  nine  and 
goes  after  that  which  is  lost,  until  he  finds  it  (Luke  15:4). 

1  George  Adam  Smith's  Translation. 

221 


[IX-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

From  the  earliest  Hebrew  seer  dimly  perceiving  him,  to  the 
last  apostle  of  the  New  Covenant,  the  God  of  the  Bible  is  tre- 
mendously in  earnest. 

How  profoundly  the  acceptance  of  this  faith  deepens  the 
meaning  and  value  of  life  is  evident.  For  a  moment  some 
might  think  that  the  major  question  is  not  whether  God  is  in 
earnest  but  whether  we  are ;  but  when  a  man  considers  the 
hidden  fountains  from  which  the  streams  of  his  human 
earnestness  must  flow,  he  sees  how  necessary  is  at  least  the 
hope  that  at  the  heart  of  it  creation  is  in  earnest  too.  Von 
Hartmann,  the  pessimist,  makes  one  of  his  characters  say, 
"The  activities  of  the  busy  world  are  only  the  shudderings  of 
a  fever."  How  shall  a  man  be  seriously  in  earnest  about 
great  causes  in  a  world  like  that?  The  men  whose  devoted 
lives  have  made  history  great  have  seen  in  creation's  busyness 
more  than  aimless  shuddering.  Moses  was  in  earnest,  but 
behind  his  consecration  was  his  vision  of  the  Eternal,  saying 
to  Pharaoh,  "Let  my  people  go !"  The  Master  was  in  earnest, 
but  with  a  motive  that  took  into  its  account  the  purposefulness 
of  God,  "My  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work"  (John 

S:i7). 

Indeed,  no  satisfying  meaning,  no  real  unity  are  conceivable 
in  a  purposeless  universe.  The  plain  fact  is  that  within  the 
universe  nobody  explains  anything  without  the  statement  of 
its  purpose.  A  chair  is  something  to  sit  down  on ;  a  watch  is 
something  to  tell  time  by ;  a  lamp  is  something  to  give  illu- 
mination in  the  dark — and  lacking  this  purposive  description, 
the  story  of  the  precedent  history  of  none  of  these  things, 
from  their  original  materials  to  their  present  shape,  would  in 
the  least  tell  what  they  really  are.  One  who  knows  all  else 
about  a  telephone,  practically  knows  nothing,  unless  he  is 
aware  of  what  it  is  for.  Nor  is  the  necessity  of  such  explana- 
tion lessened  when  scientists  endeavor  descriptions  in  their 
special  realms.  Huxley,  narrating  the  growth  of  a  sala- 
mander's egg,  writes,  "Let  a  moderate  supply  of  warmth  reach 
its  watery  cradle,  and  the  plastic  matter  undergoes  changes  so 
rapid,  and  yet  so  steady  and  so  purposelike  in  their  succession, 
that  one  can  only  compare  them  to  those  operated  by  a  skilled 
modeler  upon  a  formless  lump  of  clay.  As  with  an  invisible 
trowel,  the  mass  is  divided  and  subdivided  into  smaller  and 
smaller  portions,  until  it  is  reduced  to  an  aggregation  of 
granules  not  too  large  to  build  withal  the  finest  fabrics  of  the 

222 


FAITH  IN  THE  EARNEST  GOD  [IX-c] 

nascent  organism.  And,  then,  it  is  as  if  a  delicate  finger  traced 
out  the  line  to  be  occupied  by  the  spinal  column  and  moulded 
the  contour  of  .the  body;  pinching  up  the  head  at  one  end,  the 
tail  at  the  other,  and  fashioning  flank  and  limb  into  the  due 
salamandrine  proportions,  in  so  artistic  a  way,  that,  after 
watching  the  process  hour  by  hour,  one  is  almost  involuntarily 
possessed  by  the  notion  that  some  more  subtle  aid  to  vision 
than  an  achromatic,  would  show  the  hidden  artist,  with  his 
plan  before  him,  striving  with  skilful  manipulation  to  perfect 
his  work."  The  obvious  fact  is  that  salamanders'  eggs  act  as 
though  they  were  seriously  intent  on  making  salamanders ;  and 
lion's  cells  as  though  they  were  tremendously  in  earnest  about 
making  lions.  As  Herbert  Spencer  said  of  a  begonia  leaf, 
"\Ve  have  therefore  no  alternative  but  to  say,  that  the  living 
particles  composing  one  of  these  fragments,  have  an  innate 
tendency  to  arrange  themselves  into  the  shape  of  the  organism 
to  which  they  belong."  But  if  this  is  so,  purpose  is  essential 
in  tlie  description  of  every  living  thing.  All  about  us  is  a 
world  of  life  with  something  strikingly  like  purposeful  action 
rampant  everywhere,  so  that  in  describing  an  elm  tree  it  will 
not  do  to  say  only  that  forces  from  behind  pushed  it  into 
being;  one  must  say,  too,  that  from  our  first  observation  of 
its  cells  they  acted  as  though  they  were  intent  on  making 
nothing  else  but  elm.  They  went  about  their  business  as 
though  they  had  a  purpose.  The  tree's  cause  is  not  alone  the 
forces  from  behind ;  it  is  as  well  the  aim  that  in  the  cells' 
action  lay  ahead. 

Men  can  describe  nothing  in  heaven  above  or  on  the  earth 
beneath  without  the  use  of  purposive  terminology.  How  shall 
they  try  otherwise  to  describe  the  universe?  A  ^(.'orld  in 
which  the  minutest  particles  and  cells  all  act  as  though  they 
were  eagerly  intent  on  achieving  aims,  can  only  with  diffi- 
culty be  thought  of  as  an  aimless  whole.  Man's  conviction  is 
insistent  and  imperious  that  creation,  so  surcharged  with  pur- 
poses, must  have  Purpose.  The  greatest  scientists  themselves 
are  often  our  best  witnesses  here.  Charles  Darwin  and  Alfred 
Russel  Wallace  are  the  twin  discoverers  of  evolution.  Said 
the  former:  "If  we  consider  the  whole  universe  the  mind 
refuses  to  look  at  it  as  the  outcome  of  chance."  Said  the 
latter:  the  world  is  "a  manifestation  of  creative  power,  direc- 
tive mind,  and  ultimate  purpose." 

What  such  men  have  coldly  said,  the  men  of  devout  religion 
223 


[IX-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

have  set  on  fire  with  passionate  faith.  They  have  been  sure 
that  this  world  is  not 

"  A  tale 

Told  by  an  idiot,  full  of  sound  and  fury, 

Signifying  nothing." 

In  every  cause  that  makes  for  man's  salvation  they  have  seen 
the  manifest  unveiling  of  divine  intent.  God  is  in  earnest — 
this  conviction  has  possessed  them  utterly,  and  to  live  and  die 
for  those  things  on  behalf  of  which  the  Eternal  is  tremen- 
dously concerned  has  been  the  aim,  the  motive,  and  the  glory 
of  their  lives. 

II 

One  need  only  watch  with  casual  observance  the  multitudes 
who  say  that  they  believe  in  God,  to  see  how  few  of  them 
believe  in  this  God  who  is  in  earnest.  When  they  confess 
their  faith  in  deity  they  have  something  else  in  mind  beside 
the  God  of  the  Bible,  compassionately  purposeful  about  his 
world  and  calling  men  to  be  his  fellow-workers.  Let  us  there- 
fore consider  some  of  the  fallacies  that  enable  men  to  believe 
in  a  God  who  is  not  in  earnest. 

For  one  thing,  some  put  God  far  away.  Missionaries  in 
Africa's  interior  find  tribes  worshiping  stocks,  stones,  de- 
mons, ghosts,  but  this  does  not  mean  that  no  idea  of  a  great 
original  god  is  theirs.  Often  they  are  not  strangers  to  that 
thought,  but,  as  an  old  Africander  woman  said,  "He  never 
concerned  himself  with  me;  why  should  I  concern  myself  with 
him?"  To  such  folk  a  great  god  exists,  but  he  does  not  care; 
he  dwells  apart,  an  indifferent  deity,  who  has  left  this  world 
in  the  hands  of  lesser  gods  that  really  count.  The  task  of 
the  missionary,  therefore,  is  not  to  prove  the  existence  of  a 
creator — "No  rain,  no  mushrooms,"  said  an  African  chief ; 
"no  God,  no  world" — but  it  is  to  persuade  men  that  the  God 
who  seems  so  far  away  is  near  at  hand,  that  he  really 
cares,  and  over  each  soul  and  all  his  world  is  sacrificially  in 
earnest. 

Such  missionary  work  is  not  yet  needless  among  Christian 
people.  Said  a  Copenhagen  preacher  in  a  funeral  discourse, 
"God  cannot  help  us  in  our  great  sorrow,  because  he  is  so 
infinitely  far  away;  we  must  therefore  look  to  Jesus."  One 

224 


FAITH  IN  THE  EARNEST  GOD  [IX-c] 

feels  this  Siberian  exile  of  God  from  all  vital  meaning  for 
our  humanity,  when  he  is  called  the  "Absolute,"  the  "Great 
First  Cause,"  the  "Energy  from  which  all  things  proceed." 
Like  the  man,  examined  by  the  Civil  Service,  who,  asked  the 
distance  from  sun  to  earth,  answered,  "I  do  not  know  how  far 
the  sun  is  from  the  earth ;  but  it  is  far  enough  so  that  it  will 
not  interfere  with  the  proper  performance  of  my  duties  at  the 
Customs  Office,"  so  men  with  phrases  like  "the  Great  First 
Cause"  put  God  an  immeasurable  distance  off.  No  man  has 
dealings  with  a  "Great  First  Cause,"  no  "Great  First  Cause" 
ever  had  vital,  personal,  constraining  meanings  for  a  man. 
Rather  across  infinite  distance  and  time  unthinkable,  we 
vaguely  picture  a  dim  Figure,  who  gave  this  toboggan  of  a 
universe  its  primal  shove  and  has  not  thought  seriously  of  it 
since.  So  a  wanderer  down  the  street  might  put  a  child  upon 
her  sled  and  giving  her  a  start  down-hill,  go  on  his  way. 
She  may  have  a  pleasant  slide,  but  he  will  not  know ;  she  may 
fall  off,  but  he  will  not  care ;  there  may  be  a  tragic  accident, 
but  that  will  not  be  his  concern — he  has  gone  away  off  down 
the  street.  Multitudes  of  nominal  believers  have  a  god  like 
that. 

In  comparison  with  such,  one  thinks  of  men  like  Living- 
stone. His  God  was  compassionately  concerned  for  Africa, 
spoke  about  black  folk  as  Hosea  heard  him  speak  concerning 
Israel,  "How  can  I  give  thee  up?  How  can  I  let  thee  go?" 
until  the  fire  of  the  divine  earnestness  lit  a  corresponding 
ardor  in  Livingstone's  heart  and  he  went  out  td  be  God's  man 
in  the  dark  continent.  Such  men  have  smitten  the  listless 
world  as  winds  fill  flapping  sails,  crying  "Move!"  And  the 
God  of  such  has  been  tremendously  in  earnest. 


Ill 

Some  gain  a  God  lacking  serious  purpose,  not  by  putting 
him  afar  off,  but  by  endeavoring  to  bring  him  so  near  that 
they  diffuse  him  everywhere.  Writers  tell  us  that  God  is  in 
every  rustling  leaf  and  in  every  wave  that  breaks  upon  the 
beach ;  we  are  assured  that  God  is  in  every  gorgeous  flower 
and  in  every  flaming  sunset.  And  the  poetry  of  this  is  so 
alluring  that  we  cannot  bear  to  have  God  specially  anywhere, 
because  we  are  so  anxious  to  keep  him  everywhere.  Preach- 

225 


[IX-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

ers  delight  to  illustrate  their  thought  of  God  with  figures 
drawn  from  nature's  invisible  energies — 

"Who  has  seen  the  wind? 

Neither  I  nor  you : 
But  when  the  leaves  hang  trembling 
The  wind  is  passing  through. 

Who  has  seen  the  wind? 

Neither  you  nor  I : 
But  when  the  trees  bow  down  their  heads 

The  wind  is  passing  by." 

By  such  comparisons  are  we  taught  to  see  that  God  invisibly 
is  everywhere. 

For  all  the  valuable  truth  that  such  speech  contains,  its 
practical  issue,  in  many  minds  today,  is  to  strip  God  of  the 
last  shred  of  personality,  and  with  that  loss  to  end  the  possi- 
bility of  his  being  in  earnest  about  anything.  He  has  become 
refined  Vapor  thinly  diffused  through  space.  Folk  say  they 
love  to  meditate  on  him,  and  well  they  may !  For  such  a  god 
asks  nothing  of  anybody  except  meditation ;  he  has  no  pur- 
poses that  call  for  earnestness  in  them.  When  little  children 
are  ruined  in  a  city's  tenements,  when  the  liquor  traffic  bru- 
talizes men,  when  economic  inequity  makes  many  poor  that 
a  few  may  be  made  rich,  when  war  clothes  the  world  with 
unutterable  sorrow,  such  a  god  does  not  care.  He  is  not  in 
earnest  about  anything.  For  the  only  thing  in  the  universe 

\that  can  be  consciously  in  earnest  is  personality,  and  when 
one  depersonalizes  God,  the  remainder  is  a  deity  who  has  no 
love,  no  care,  no  purpose.  Thousands  do  obeisance  to  such  a 
gaseous  idol. 

From  this  fallacy  spring  such  familiar  confessions  of  faith 
as  this,  "God  is  not  a  person ;  he  is  spirit."  If  by  this  negation 
one  intends  to  say  that  God  is  not  a  limited  individual,  that  is 
obviously  true;  but  the  contrast  between  personality  and  spirit 
is  impossible.  One  may  as  well  speak  of  dry  water  as  of 
impersonal  spirit.  Rays  of  radium  are  unimaginably  minute 
and  swift,  but  they  are  not  spirit.  Nothing  in  the  impersonal 
realm  can  be  conceived  so  subtle  and  refined  that  it  is  spirit. 
Spirit  begins  only  where  love  and  intelligence  and  purpose 
are,  and  these  all  are  activities  of  personality.  No  one  can 

226 


FAITH  IN  THE  EARNEST  GOD  [IX-c] 

really  believe  what  Jesus  said,  "God  is  a  Spirit,"  without  being 
ready  to  pray  as  Jesus  prayed,  "Our  Father." 

Between  an  impersonal,  diffused,  and  gaseous  god,  and  the 
God  of  the  Bible,  how  great  the  difference!  God's  pervading 
omnipresence  is  indeed  affirmed  in  Scripture.  There,  as  much 
as  in  any  modern  thought,  the  heavens  declare  his  glory,  the 
flowers  of  the  field  are  illustrations  of  his  care,  and  the  influ- 
ences of  his  spirit  are  like  the  breeze  across  the  hills.  To  the 
ancient  Hebrew,  heaven  and  sheol  were  the  highest  and  the 
lowest,  but  of  each  the  Psalmist  says  to  God,  "Thou  art  there," 
and  as  for  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea,  "even  there  shall 
thy  hand  lead  me"  (Psalm  139:7-10).  Cries  Jeremiah  from 
the  Old  Testament,  "Am  I  a  God  at  hand,  saith  Jehovah,  and 
not  a  God  afar  off?  Can  any  hide  himself  in  secret  places 
so  that  I  shall  not  see  him?  saith  Jehovah.  Do  not  I  fill 
heaven  and  earth?"  (Jer.  23:  23,  24).  And  Paul  answers  from 
the  New  Testament,  "Not  far  from  every  one  of  us :  for  in 
him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being"  (Acts  17:27,  28). 
But  the  God  of  the  Bible  who  so  pervades  and  sustains  all 
existence  never  degenerates  into  a  Vapor.  When  Egyptian 
taskmasters  crack  their  whips  over  Hebrew  slaves,  he  cares. 
When  exiles  try  in  vain  to  sing  the  songs  of  Zion  in  a  strange 
land,  he  cares.  When  evil  men  build  Jerusalem  with  blood, 
and  rapacious  men  pant  after  the  dust  on  the  head  of  the  poor, 
he  cares.  He  is  prodigiously  in  earnest,  and  those  who  best 
represent  him,  from  the  great  prophets  to  the  sacrificial  Son, 
are  like  him  in  this,  that  they  are  mastered  by  consuming  pur- 
pose. The  God  of  the  Bible  is  sadly  needed  by  his  people. 
For  lack  of  him  religion  grows  often  listless  and  churches  be- 
come social  clubs. 

IV 

By  another  road  men  travel  to  believe  in  a  God  who  is  not 
in  earnest:  they  think  of  him  as  an  historic  being.  It  was 
said  of  Carlyle,  shrewdly  if  unjustly,  that  his  God  lived  until 
the  death  of  Oliver  Cromwell.  Whatever  may  be  the  truth 
about  Carlyle,  it  is  easy  to  find  folk  whose  God  to  all  intents 
and  purposes  is  dead.  Long  since  he  closed  his  work,  spoke 
his  last  word,  and  settled  down  to  inactivity  and  silence.  He 
made  the  world,  created  man,  thundered  from  Sinai,  estab- 
lished David's  kingdom,  brought  back  the  exiles,  inspired  the 

227 


[IX-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

prophets  and  sent  his  Son.  He  once  was  earnest;  the  record 
of  his  ancient  acts  is  long  and  glorious,  and  men  find  comfort 
in  reading  what  he  used  to  do.  They  would  not  explicitly  con- 
fess it,  but  in  fact  they  habitually  think  of  God  in  the  past 
tense.  They  cannot  conceive  the  universe  as  happening  by 
chance,  and  they  posit  God  as  making  it ;  they  cannot  believe 
that  the  transcendent  characters  of  olden  times  were  unin- 
spired, so  God  becomes  the  explanation  of  their  power. 
When  such  believers  wish  to  assure  themselves  of  God  they 
go  to  the  stern  of  humanity's  ship  and  watch  the  wake  far 
to  the  rear;  but  they  never  stand  on  the  ship's  bridge,  and 
feel  it  sway  and  turn  at  the  touch  of  a  present  Captain  in  con- 
trol. They  have  not  risen  to  the  meaning  of  the  Bible's  reiter- 
ated phrase,  "the  living  God." 

Hoffding  tells  us  that  in  a  Danish  Protestant  church,  well 
on  into  the  nineteenth  century,  worshipers  maintained  the 
custom  of  bowing,  when  they  passed  a  certain  spot  upon  the 
wall.  The  reason,  which  no  one  knew,  was  discovered  when 
removal  of  the  whitewash  revealed  a  Roman  Catholic  Ma- 
donna.' Folk  had  bowed  for  three  centuries  before  the  place 
where  the  Madonna  used  to  be.  So  some  folk  worship  deity; 
he  is  not  a  present  reality  but  a  tradition ;  their  faith  is 
directed  not  toward  the  living  God  himself,  but  toward  what 
some  one  else  has  written  about  a  God  who  used  to  be  alive. 
They  do  not  feel  now  God's  plans  afoot,  his  purposes  as  cer- 
tainly in  progress  now  as  ever  in  man's  history.  They  stand 
rather  like  unconverted  Gideon,  facing  backwards  and  lament- 
ing, "Where  are  all  his  wondrous  works  which  our  fathers 
told  us  of?"  (Judges  6:  13). 

Not  by  what  we  say,  but  by  our  practical  attitudes  we  most 
reveal  how  little  we  believe  in  an  earnest,  living  God  whose 
voice  calls  us,  whose  plans  need  us,  as  much  as  ever  Moses  or 
David  or  Paul  was  summoned  and  required.  If  we  say  that 
we  do  believe  in  this  living  God  we  are  belied  by  our  dis- 
couragements, deserving  as  we  often  do  the  rebuke  which 
Luther's  wife  administered  to  the  Reformer.  "From  what  you 
have  said,"  she  remarked,  standing  before  him  clothed  in  deep, 
mourning  black,  "and  from  the  way  you  feel  and  act  I  sup- 
posed that  God  was  dead."  If  we  say  that  we  believe  in  a 
living,  earnest  God,  we  are  belied  by  our  reluctance  to  ex- 
pect and  welcome  new  revelations  of  God's  truth  and  enlarg- 
ing visions  of  his  plan.  Willing  to  believe  what  the  astron- 

228 


FAITH  IN  THE  EARNEST  COD  [IX-c] 

omers  say,  that  light  from  a  new  star  reaches  the  earth  each 
year,  we  act  as  though  God's  spiritual  universe  were  smaller 
than  his  physical,  and  do  not  eagerly  await  the  new  light 
perpetually  breaking  from  his  heavens.  But  most  of  all  the 
little  influence  which  our  faith  in  God  has  upon  our  practical 
service  is  a  scathing  indictment  of  its  vitality  and  power. 
No  one  who  really  believes  in  an  earnest,  living  God  can  have 
an  undedicated  life.  He  may  not  think  of  the  Divine  in  the 
past  tense  chiefly;  the  present  and  the  future  even  more  be- 
long to  God ;  and  through  each  generation  runs  the  earnest 
purpose  of  the  Eternal,  who  has  never  said  his  last  word  on 
any  subject,  nor  put  the  final  hammer  blow  on  any  task.  A 
faith  like  this,  deeply  received  and  apprehended,  is  a  master- 
ful experience.  It  changes  the  inner  quality  of  life ;  it  makes 
the  place  whereon  we  stand  holy  ground ;  it  urgently  im- 
presses us  into  the  service  of  those  causes  that  we  plainly  see 
have  in  them  the  purpose  of  God.  No  outlook  upon  life  com- 
pares with  this  in  grandeur ;  no  motive  for  life  is  at  once  so 
weighty  and  so  fine. 


One  of  the  subtlest  fallacies  by  which  we  miss  believing  in 
an  earnest  God  is  not  describable  as  an  opinion.  Men  fall 
into  it,  who  neither  reduce  God  to  a  Great  First  Cause,  nor 
diffuse  him  into  a  vapor,  nor  regard  him  as  an  historic  being. 
They  rather  alloiv  their  superstitious  sentiments  to  take  the 
place  of  worthy  faith.  Plenty  of  people  who  warmly  would 
insist  on  their  religion,  reveal  in  their  practical  attitudes  how 
utterly  bereft  of  serious  moral  purpose  their  God  is.  They 
think  their  fortune  will  be  better  if  they  do  not  sit  thirteen 
at  a  table  or  occupy  room  thirteen  at  a  hotel ;  cfn  occasion 
they  throw  salt  or  look  at  the  moon  over  their  right  shoulders 
and  rap  on  wood  to  assure  their  safety  or  their  luck;  and 
to  be  quite  certain  of  divine  favor  they  hang  fetishes,  like 
rabbits'  feet,  about  their  necks.  Their  attitude  toward  such 
surviving  pagan  superstitions  is  like  Fontenelli's  toward 
ghosts.  "I  do  not  believe  in  them,"  he  said,  "but  I  am  afraid 
of  them."  That  this  is  a  law-abiding  universe  with  moral 
purpose  in  it,  suoh  folk  obviously  do  not  believe.  Their  God 
is  not  in  earnest.  He  spends  his  time  watching  for  dinner 
parties  of  thirteen  or  listening  for  folk  who  forget  to  rap  on 

229 


[IX-cJ  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

wood  when  they  boast  that  they  have  not  been  ill  all  winter. 
The  utter  poverty  to  which  great  words  may  be  reduced  by 
meager  minds  is  evident  when  such  folk  say  that  they  believe 
in  God. 

Even  when  these  grosser  forms  of  superstition  are  not 
present,  others  hardly  more  respectable  may  take  their  place. 
God  is  pictured  as  a  King,  surrounded  with  court  ritual,  in 
the  complete  and  proper  observance  of  which  he  takes  delight, 
and  any  rupture  in  whose  regularity  awakes  his  anger.  To 
go  to  church,  to  say  our  prayers,  to  read  our  Bibles,  to  be 
circumspect  on  Sunday,  to  help  pay  the  preacher's  salary  and 
to  contribute  to  the  missionary  cause — such  things  as  these 
comprise  the  court  ritual  of  God.  These  Christian  acts  are  not 
presented  as  gracious  privileges,  opportunities,  like  fresh  air 
and  sunshine  and  friendship,  to  make  life  rich  and  service- 
able ;  they  are  presented  as  works  of  merit,  by  which  we  gain 
standing  in  God's  favor  and  assure  ourselves  of  his  benignity. 
For  with  those  who  so  conform  to  his  ordinances  and  respect 
his  taboos,  he  is  represented  as  well-pleased,  and  he  blesses 
them  with  special  favors.  But  any  infraction  of  these  rituals 
is  sure  to  bring  terrific  punishment.  God  watches  those  who 
do  not  sing  his  praises  or  who  fail  in  praying,  and  he  marks 
them  for  his  vengeance !  Dr.  Jowett  tells  us  that  in  the  Sun- 
day school  room  of  the  English  chapel  where  as  a  child  he 
worshiped,  a  picture  hung  that  to  his  fascinated  and  fright- 
ened imagination  represented  the  character  of  God :  a  huge 
eye  filled  the  center  of  the  heavens,  and  from  it  rays  of  vision 
fell  on  every  sort  of  minute  happening  and  small  misdeed  on 
earth.  As  such  a  monstrous  Detective,  jealous  of  his  rights 
and  perquisites,  God  is  how  often  pictured  to  the  children! 
So  H.  G.  Wells  indignantly  interprets  his  experience :  "I, 
who  write,  'was  so  set  against  God,  thus  rendered.  He  and 
his  Hell  were  the  nightmare  of  my  childhood ;  I  hated  him 
while  I  still  believed  in  him,  and  who  could  help  but  hate?  I 
thought  of  him  as  a  fantastic  monster,  perpetually  spying,  per- 
petually listening,  perpetually  waiting  to  condemn  and  to 
strike  me  dead ;  his  flames  as  ready  as  a  grill-room  fire.  He 
was  over  me  and  about  my  feebleness  and  silliness  and  for- 
getfulness  as  the  sky  and  sea  would  be  about  a  child  drowning 
in  mid-Atlantic.  When  I  was  still  only  a  child  of  thirteen, 
"by  the  grace  of  the  true  God  in  me,  I  flung  this  lie  out  of  my 
mind,  and  for  many  years,  until  I  came  to  see  that  God  him- 

230 


FAITH  IN  THE  EARNEST  GOD  [IX-c] 

self  had  done  this  thing  for  me,  the  name  of  God  meant 
nothing  to  me  but  the  hideous  sear  in  my  heart  where  a  fear- 
ful demon  had  been." 

This  "bogey  God"  is  in  earnest  about  nothing  except  the  ob- 
servance of  his  little  rituals;  he  is  unworthy  of  a  good  man's 
worship,  he  has  no  purpose  that  can  capture  the  consent  and 
inspire  the  loyalty  of  serious  folk.  How  many  so-called  un- 
believers are  in  revolt  against  this  perversion  of  the  idea  of 
God,  taught  them  in  childhood!  The  deity  whom  they  refuse 
to  credit  is  not  the  Father,  with  "the  eternal  purpose  which  he 
purposed  in  Christ"  (Eph.  3:  n)  ;  often  they  have  not  heard 
of  him.  Their  denial  is  directed  against  another  sort  of  God. 
"I  wish  I  could  recall  clearly,"  writes  one,  "the  conception  of 
God  which  I  gained  as  a  boy  in  Sunday  school.  He  was  as 
old  as  grandfather,  I  know,  but  not  so  kind.  We  were  told 
to  fear  him."  Surely  the  real  God  must  sympathize  with 
those  who  hate  his  caricature.  A  vindictive  Bogey,  quer- 
ulous about  the  mint,  anise,  and  cummin  of  his  ritual,  in  earn- 
est about  nothing  save  to  reward  obsequious  servants  and 
to  have  his  vengeance  out  on  the  careless  and  disobedient,  is 
poles  asunder  from  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  with  his  majestic  purpose  for  the  world's  salvation. 


VI 

Of  all  the  sentiments,  however,  by  which  a  worthy  faith  is 
made  impossible,  none  is  so  common,  in  these  recent  years, 
as  the  ascription  to  God  of  a  weak  and  flaccid  affectionateness. 
God's  love  is  interpreted  by  love's  meaning  in  hours  when  we 
are  gentle  with  our  children  or  tender  with  our  friends.  The 
soft  and  cosy  aspects  of  love,  its  comforts,  its  pities,  its  affec- 
tions, are  made  central  in  our  thought  of  God.  We  are  taught, 
as  children,  that  he  loves  us  as  our  mothers  do ;  and  as  from 
them  we  look  for  coddling  when  we  cry  for  it,  so  are  our  ex- 
pectations about  God.  Our  religion  becomes  a  selfish  seeking 
for  divine  protection  from  life's  ills,  a  recipe  for  ease,  an 
expectant  trust,  that  as  we  believe  in  God  he  in  return  will 
nurse  us,  unharmed  and  happy,  through  our  lives.  No  one 
intimately  acquainted  with  the  religious  life  of  men  and 
women  can  be  unaware  of  this  widespread,  ingrained  belief  in 
a  soft,  affectionate,  grandmotherly  God.  What  wonder  that 

231 


[IX-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

life  brings  fearful  disillusionment!     What  wonder  that  in  a 
world  where  all  that  is  valuable  has  been 

"Battered  with  the  shocks  of  doom 
To  shape  and  use," 

the  God  of  coddling  love  seems  utterly  impossible ! 

The  lack  in  this  fallacious  faith  is  central ;  there  is  no  place 
in  it  for  the  movement  of  God's  moral  purpose.  To  ascribe 
love  to  God  without  making  it  a  quality  of  his  unalterable 
purpose,  which  must  sweep  on  through  costs  in  suffering  how- 
ever great,  is  to  misread  the  Gospel.  Many  kinds  of  love  are 
known  in  our  experience,  from  a  nursing  mother  with  her 
babe  to  a  military  leader  with  his  men.  In  Donald  Hankey's 
picture  of  "the  Beloved  Captain"  we  see  affection  and  lender- 
ness,  as  beautiful  as  they  are  strong:  "It  was  a  wonderful 
thing,  that  smile  of  his.  It  was  something  worth  living  for, 
and  worth  working  for.  ...  It  seemed  to  make  one  look 
at  things  from  a  different  point  of  view,  a  finer  point  of  view, 
his  point  of  view.  There  was  nothing  feeble  or  weak  about 
it.  ...  It  meant  something.  It  meant  that  we  were  his 
men  and  that  he  was  proud  of  us.  ...  When  we  failed 
him,  when  he  was  disappointed  in  us,  he  did  not  smile.  He 
did  not  rage  or  curse.  He  just  looked  disappointed,  and  that 
made  us  feel  far  more  savage  with  ourselves  than  any  amount 
of  swearing  would  have  done.  .  .  .  The  fact  was  that  he 
had  won  his  way  into  our  affections.  We  loved  him.  And 
there  isn't  anything  stronger  than  love,  when  all's  said  and 
done." 

Yet,  this  Captain,  loving  and  beloved,  will  lead  his  men  in 
desperate  charges,  where  death  falls  in  showers,  but  where 
the  purpose  which  their  hearts  have  chosen  forces  them  to  go. 
The  love  of  God  must  be  like  that;  it  surely  is  if  Jesus'  love 
1  is  its  embodiment.  His  affection  for  his  followers,  his  solici- 
tude and  tenderness  have  been  in  Christian  eyes,  how  beauti- 
ful! They  shine  in  words  like  John's  seventeenth  chapters 
where  love  finds  transcendent  utterance.  Yet  this  same  * 
Master  said :  "Behold,  I  send  you  forth  as  sheep  in  the  midst 
of  wolves"  (Matt.  10:16);  "Blessed  are  ye  when  men  shall 
reproach  you,  and  persecute  you,  and  say  all  manner  of  evil 
against  you  falsely  for  my  sake"  (Matt.  5:11);  "Then  shall 

232 


I-A1TH  IN  THE  EARNEST  GOD  [IX-c] 

they  deliver  you  up  unto  tribulation,  and  shall  kill  you ;  and  ye 
shall  be  hated  of  all  the  nations  for  my  name's  sake"  (Matt. 
i)  ;  "They  shall  put  you  out  of  the  synagogues;  yea,  the 
hour  cometh,  that  whosoever  killeth  you  shall  think  that  he 
offereth  service  unto  God"  (John  16:2)  ;  "If  any  man  cometh 
unto  me,  and  hateth  not  his  own  father,  and  mother,  and  wife, 
and  children,  and  brethren,  and  sisters,  yea,  and  his  own  life 
also,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple"  (Luke  14:26).  The  love  of 
Jesus  was  no  coddling  affection ;  it  had  for  its  center  a  moral 
purpose  that  balked  at  no  sacrifice.  He  took  crucifixion  for 
himself,  and  to  his  beloved  he  cried,  "If  any  man  would 
come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself,  and  take  up  his  cross, 
and  follow  me"  (Matt.  16:24).  Such  love  is  God's;  and 
preachers  who  advertise  his  Fatherhood  as  a  gentle  nurse  that 
shelters  us  jroin  suffering  have  sapped  the  Gospel  of  its  moral 
power.  God's  love  is  austere  as  well  as  bountiful;  he  is,  as 
Emerson  said,  the  ''terrific  benefactor." 

Indeed,  faith  in  a  God  of  coddling  love  may  be  one  of  the 
most  pernicious  influences  in  human  life.  Our  trust,  so  mis- 
interpreted, becomes  a  cushion  on  which  to  lie,  a  sedative  by 
which  to  sleep.  When  ills  afflict  the  world  that  men  could 
cure,  such  misbelievers  merely  trust  in  God ;  when  tasks  await 
man's  strength,  they  quietly  retreat  upon  their  faith  that  God 
is  good  and  will  solve  all,  until  religion  becomes  a  by-word  and 
a  hissing  on  the  lips  of  earnest  men.  Such  misbelievers  have 
not  dimly  seen  the  Scripture's  meaning,  where  faith  is  not 
a  pillow  but  a  shield,  from  behind  which  plays  a  sword 
(Eph.  6:  16)  and  where  men  do  not  sleep  by  faith,  but  "fight 
the  good  fight  of  faith"  instead  (I  Tim.  6:12).  Or  if  such 
misbelievers  do  rouse  themselves  to  lay  hold  on  their  Divinity, 
it  is  to  demand  God's  love  for  them  and  not  to  offer  their  lives 
to  God.  As  Sydney  Smith  exclaimed  about  some  people's 
patriotism,  "God  save  the  King!  in  these  times  too  often 
means,  God  save  my  pension  and  my  place,  God  give  my 
sisters  an  allowance  out  of  the  Privy  Purse,  let  me  live  upon 
the  fruits  of  other  men's  industry  and  fatten  upon  the  plunder 
of  the  public." 

Faith  in  God  never  is  elevated  and  ennobling  until  we  over- 
pass "God  for  our  lives!"  to  cry  "Our  lives  for  God!"  Then 
at  the  luminous  center  of  our  faith  shines  the  divine  purpose, 
costly  but  wonderful,  that  binds  the  ages  together  in  spiritual 
unity.  To  that  we  dedicate  our  lives ;  in  that  we  exceedingly 

233 


IIX-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

rejoice.  No  longer  do  we  test  God's  goodness  by  our  happiness 
or  our  ill-fortune ;  we  are  his  through  fair  weather  and 
through  foul.  No  longer  do  we  merely  hold  beliefs,  we  are 
held  by  them,  captured  now  and  not  simply  consoled  by  faith. 
Only  so  are  we  learning  discipleship  to  Christ  and  are  begin- 
ning really  to  believe  in  the  Christian  God. 


VII 

From  all  these  common  fallacies  of  thought  and  sentiment 
one  turns  to  the  New  Testament  to  find  the  God  of  the  Gospel. 
The  very  crux  of  the  Good  Tidings  is  that  God  is  so  much  in 
earnest  that  he  is  the  eternal  Sufferer.  The  ancient  Greeks 
had  a  god  of  perfect  bliss;  he  floated  on  from  age  to  age  in 
undisturbed  tranquillity;  no  cry  of  man  ever  reached  his 
empyrean  calm ;  his  life  was  an  endless  stream  of  liquid  hap- 
piness. How  different  this  Greek  deity  is  from  ours  may 
be  perceived  if  one  tries  to  say  of  him  those  things  which  the 
Scripture  habitually  says  of  God.  "In  all  their  affliction  he 
was  afflicted"  (Isa.  63:9);  "Can  a  woman  forget  her  suck- 
ing child,  that  she  should  not  have  compassion  on  the  son 
of  her  womb?  yea,  these  may  forget,  yet  will  not  I  forget 
thee"  (Isa.  49:  15)  ;  "God,  being  rich  in  mercy,  for  his  great 
love  wherewith  he  loved  us  even  when  we  were  dead  through 
our  trespasses"  (Eph  2:4,  5)  ;  "God  so  loved  the  world  that 
he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son"  (John  3:  16).  None  of  these 
things  that  Christians  say  about  their  God  can  be  said  of  a 
deity  who  dwells  in  tranquil  bliss. 

Indeed  let  one  stand  over  against  a  war-torn,  unhappy  world 
and  try  to  think  that  God  does  not  suffer  in -man's  agony, 
and  he  will  see  how  useless  and  incredible  such  a  God  would 
be.  God  looks  on  Belgium  and  he  does  not  care ;  he  looks  on 
Armenia  desolate  and  Poland  devastated,  and  he  does  not 
care;  he  sits  in  heaven  and  sees  his  children  wounded  and 
alone  in  No-man's  land,  watches  the  deaths,  the  heart-breaks, 
the  poverty  of  war,  its  ruined  childhood  and  its  shattered 
families,  and  he  does  not  care — how  impossible  it  is  to 
believe  in  such  a  God !  A  God  who  does  not  care  does  not 
count. 

Christians,  therefore,  have  the  God  who  really  meets  the 
needs  of  men.  He  cares  indeed,  and,  with  all  the  modesty 

234 


FAITH  IN  THE  EARNEST  GOD  [IX-cJ 

that  words  of  human  emotion  must  put  on  when  they  are  ap- 
plied to  him,  he  suffers  in  the  suffering  of  men  and  is  cruci- 
fied in  his  children's  agonies.  God  limited  himself  in  making- 
such  a  world  as  this ;  in  it  he  cannot  lightly  do  what  he  will ; 
he  has  a  struggle  on  his  heart ;  he  makes  his  way  upward 
against  obstacles  that  man's  imagination  cannot  measure. 
There  is  a  cross  forever  at  the  heart  of  God.  He  climbs  his. 
everlasting  Calvary  toward  the  triumph  that  must  come,  andi 
he  is  tremendously  in  earnest. 

One  important  consequence  follows  such  rfaith  as  this- 
Confidence  in  such  an  earnest,  sacrificial  God  makes  inevit- 
able the  Christian  faith  in  immortality.  Our  solar  system  is- 
no  permanent  theater  for  God's  eternal  purposes ;  it  is  doomed 
to  dissolution  as  certainly  as  any  human  body  is  doomed  to- 
die.  In  the  Lick  observatory  one  reads  this  notice  under  a. 
picture  of  the  sun :  "The  blue  stars  are  considered  to  be  in 
early  life,  the  yellow  stars  in  middle  life,  the  red  stars  in  old 
age.  .  .  .  From  the  quality  of  its  spectrum  the  sun  is  classi- 
fied as  a  star  in  middle  age."  Those,  therefore,  who,  denying 
their  own  immortality,  comfort  themselves  with  prophesying 
endless  progress  for  the  race  upon  the  earth,  have  no  basis 
for  their  hopes.  "We  must  therefore  renounce  those  brilliant 
fancies,"  says  Faye  the  scientist,  "by  which  we  try  to  deceive 
ourselves  in  order  to  endow  man  with  unlimited  posterity,  and 
to  regard  the  universe  as  the  immense  theater  on  which  is  to 
be  developed  a  spontaneous  progress  without  end.  On  the 
contrary,  life  must  disappear,  and  the  grandest  material  works 
of  the  human  race  will  have  to  be  effaced  by  degrees  under 
the  action  of  a  few  physical  forces  which  will  survive  man 
for  a  time.  Nothing  will  remain — 'Even  the  ruins  will  per- 
ish.' " 

If  one  believes,  therefore,  in  the  God  who  is  in  earnest,  he- 
cannot  content  himself  with  such  a  universe — lacking  any 
permanent  element,  any  abiding  reality  in  which  the  moral 
gains  of  man's  long  struggle  are  conserved.  God's  purpose 
cannot  be  so  narrow  in  horizon  that  it  is  satisfied  with  a  few 
million  years  of  painful  experiment,  costly  beyond  imagina- 
tion, yet  with  no  issue  to  crown  its  sacrifice.  In  such  a  uni- 
verse as  Faye  pictures,  lacking  immortality,  generation  after 
generation  of  men  suffer,  aspire,  labor,  and  die,  and  this  shall 
be  the  history  of  all  creation,  until  at  last  Shakespeare's 
prophecy  shall  be  fulfilled, 

235 


[IX-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

"The  cloud-capp'd  towers,  the  gorgeous  palaces, 
The  solemn  temples,  the  great  globe  itself, 
Yea,  all  which  it  inherit,  shall  dissolve 
And,  like  this  insubstantial  pageant  faded, 
Leave  not  a  rack  behind." 

If  such  is  to  be  the  story  of  creation,  there  is  no  purpose  in 
it  and  the  Christian  faith  in  an  earnest  God  is  vain. 

Only  one  truth  is  adequate  to  crown  our  confidence  in  a  pur- 
poseful univenee  and  to  make  it  reasonable :  personality  must 
persist.  We  believe  in  immortality,  not  because  we  meanly 
want  rewards  ahead,  but  because  in  no  other  way  can  life, 
viewed  as  a  whole,  find  sense  and  reason.  If  personality  per- 
sists, this  transient  theater  of  action  and  discipline  may  serve 
its  purpose  in  God's  time,  and  disappear.  He  is  in  earnest, 
but  not  for  rocks  and  suns  and  stars,  he  is  in  earnest  about 
persons — the  sheep  of  his  pasture  are  men.  They  are  not 
mortal;  they  carry  over  into  the  eternal  world  the  spiritual 
gains  of  earth ;  and  all  life's  struggle — its  vicarious  sacrifice, 
its  fearful  punishments,  its  labor  for  better  circumstance  and 
worthier  life — is  justified  in  its  everlasting  influence  on  per- 
sonality. When  we  say  that  God  cares,  we  mean  no  vague, 
diffusive  attitude  toward  a  system  that  lasts  for  limited 
millenniums  and  then  comes  to  an  uneventful  end  in  a  cold 
sun  and  a  ruined  earth.  We  mean  that  he  cares  for  person- 
ality which  is  his  child,  that  he  suffers  in  the  travail  of  his 
children's  character,  and  that  this  divine  solicitude  has  ever- 
lasting issues  when  the  heavens  "wax  old  like  a  garment." 
Still  Paul's  statement  stands,  one  of  the  most  worthy  sum- 
maries of  God's  earnestness  that  ever  has  been  written :  "The 
creation  waits  with  eager  longing  for  the  sons  of  God  to  be 
revealed"  (Rom.  8:ig).2 

2  Moffatt's  Translation. 


236 


CHAPTER  X 

Faith  in  Christ  the  Savior: 
Forgiveness 

DAILY  READINGS 

During  the  next  two  weeks  we  are  to  consider  some  of  the 
distinctive  meanings  which  faith  in  Christ  has  had  for  his 
disciples.  They  have  found  in  that  faith  unspeakable  bless- 
ing and  have  uttered  their  gratitude  in  radiant  language. 
But,  just  because  of  this,  many  folk  find  themselves  in  diffi- 
culty. Their  expectations  concerning  the  Christian  life  have 
been  lifted  very  high,  and  in  their  experience  of  it  they 
have  been  disappointed.  Their  problem  is  not  theoretical 
doubt,  but  practical  disillusionment.  Their  difficulty  lies  in 
their  experience  that  the  Christian  life,  while  it  may  be 
theoretically  true,  is  not  practically  what  it  is  advertised  to 
be.  At  this  common  problem  let  us  look  in  the  daily  read- 
ings. 

Tenth  Week,  First  Day 

Many  expect  in  the  Christian  experience  an  emotional  life 
of  joy  and  quietude  which  they  have  not  found.  They  are 
led  to  expect  this  by  many  passages  of  Scripture  about  "peace 
in  believing,"  by  many  hymns  of  exultation  where  a  mood  of 
unqualified  spiritual  triumph  finds  voice,  and  by  testimonies 
of  men  who  speak  of  living  years  without  any  depressed  hours 
or  flagging  spirits.  Such  a  wonderful  life  of  elevated  emotion 
many  crave  for  themselves ;  they  came  into  the  Christian 
fellowship  expecting  it ;  and  they  neither  have  it,  nor  are 
likely  to  achieve  it.  Now  the  beauty  of  a  clear,  high  emotional 
life  no  one  can  doubt,  but  we  must  not  demand  it  as  a  con- 
dition of  our  keeping  faith.  We  ought  not  to  seek  God 
simply  for  the  sake  of  sensational  experiences,  no  matter  how 
desirable  they  may  be.  In  all  the  ages  before  Christ,  the 

237 


[X-2]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

outstanding  example  of  deep  personal  religion,  expressing 
itself  in  over  forty  years  of  splendidly  courageous  prophetic 
ministry,  is  Jeremiah,  and  his  temperament  was  never  marked 
by  quietude  and  joy.  His  emotional  life  was  profoundly 
affected  by  his  faith:  courage  was  substituted  for  fear.  But  if 
he  had  demanded  the  mood  of  the  ic>3rd  psalm  as  a  price  for 
continued  faith,  he  would  have  lost  his  faith.  He  was.  not 
temperamentally  constructed  like  the  psalmist — and  he  was  a 
far  greater  personality.  We  must  not  be  too  much  concerned 
about  our  spiritual  sensations.  Consider  the  Master's  parable 
about  the  two  sons :  one  had  amiable  feelings,  but  his  will 
was  wrong,  the  other  lacked  satisfactory  emotions,  but  he  did 
the  work. 

But  what  think  ye?  A  man  had  two  sons;  and  he  came 
to  the  first,  and  said,  Son,  go  work  to-day  in  the  vineyard. 
And  he  answered  and  said,  I  will  not:  but  afterward  he 
repented  himself,  and  went.  And  he  came  to  the  second, 
and  said  likewise.  And  he  answered  and  said,  I  go,  sir: 
.and  went  not.  Which  of  the  two  did  the  will  of  his 
father?  They  say,  The  first. — Matt.  21:  28-31. 

Ah,  Lord,  unto  -whom  all  hearts  are  open;  Thou  canst 
•govern  the  vessel  of  our  souls  far  better  than  we  can.  Arise, 
O  Lord,  and  command  the  stormy  wind  and  the  troubled  sea 
•of  our  hearts  to  be  still,  and  at  peace  in  Thee,  that  we  may 
.look  up  to  Thee  undisturbed,  and  abide  in  union  with  Thee, 
our  Lord.  Let  us  not  be  carried  hither  and  thither  by  wander- 
ing thoughts,  but,  forgetting  all  else,  let  us  see  and  hear  Thee. 
Renew  our  spirits;  kindle  in  us  Thy  light,  that  it  may  shine 
•within  us,  and  our  hearts  may  burn  in  love  and  adoration  to- 
wards Thee.  Let  Thy  Holy  Spirit  dwell  in  us  continually, 
•and  make  us  Thy  temples  and  sanctuary,  and  fill  us  with 
Divine  love  and  light  and  life,  with  devout  and  heavenly 
.thoughts,  with  comfort  and  strength,  with  joy  and  peace. 
Amen. — Johann  Arndt,  1555. 

Tenth  Week,  Second  Day 

Many  came  into  the  Christian  life  because  they  needed  con- 
quering power  in  their  struggle  against  sin.  They  were  told 
that  absolute  victory  could  be  theirs  through  Christ,  and  they 
set  their  hearts  on  that  in  ardent  hope  and  expectation.  But 
they  are  disappointed.  That  they  have  been  helped  they 

238 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  FORGIVENESS     [X-2] 

would  not  deny,  but  they  find  that  the  battle  with  besetting 
sin  is  a  running  fight;  it  has  not  been  concluded  by  a  final 
and  resounding  victory.  This  seems  to  them  a  denial  of  what 
Christian  preachers  and  Christian  hymns  have  promised,  and 
perhaps  it  is.  Hymns  and  preachers  are  not  infallible.  Chris- 
tian experience,  however,  is  plainly  aligned  against  their  dis- 
appointment. Some  men  under  the  power  of  Christ  are  im- 
mediately transformed  so  that  an  old  sin  becomes  thence- 
forth utterly  distasteful ;  even  the  desire  for  it  is  banished 
altogether.  But  a  great  preacher,  only  recently  deceased,  no 
less  really  under  the  power  of  Christ,  had  all  his  life  to 
fight  a  taste  for  drink  which  once  had  mastered  him.  His 
battle  never  ceased.  His  victory  consisted  not  in  the  elimina- 
tion of  his  appetite,  but  in  abiding  power  to  keep  up  the 
struggle,  to  refuse  subjugation  to  it,  and  at  last  gloriously 
to  fall  on  sleep,  admired  and  loved  by  his  people  who  had  seen 
in  him  steadfast,  unconquerable  will,  sustained  by  faith.  To 
have  done  with  a  sinful  appetite  in  one  conclusive  victory 
is  glorious ;  but  we  must  not  demand  it  as  a  price  of  keeping 
faith.  Perhaps  our  victory  must  come  through  the  kind  of 
patient  persistence  which  James  the  Apostle  evidently  knew. 

Count  it  all  joy,  my  brethren,  when  ye  fall  into  mani- 
fold temptations;  knowing  that  the  proving  of  your  faith 
worketh  patience.  And  let  patience  have  its  perfect  work, 
that  ye  may  be  perfect  and  entire,  lacking  in  nothing. 

But  if  any  of  you  lacketh  wisdom,  let  him  ask  of  God, 
who  giveth  to  all  liberally  and  upbraideth  not;  and  it 
shall  be  given  him.  But  let  him  ask  in  faith,  nothing 
doubting:  for  he  that  doubteth  is  like  the  surge  of  the 
sea  driven  by  the  wind  and  tossed.  For  let  not  that  man 
think  that  he  shall  receive  anything  of  the  Lord;  a  double- 
minded  man,  unstable  in  all  his  ways. — James  i :  2-8. 

O  Lord  God  Almighty,  z(.'ho  givcst  power  to  the  faint,  and 
incrcasest  strength  to  them  that  have  no  might;  without  Thee 
7iv  can  do  nothing,  but  by  Thy  gracious  assistance  we  are  en- 
abled for  the  performance  of  every  duty  laid  upon  us.  Lord 
of  poii'cr  and  love,  we  come,  trusting  in  Thine  almighty 
strength,  and  Thine  infinite  goodness,  to  ask  from  Thee  what 
is  wanting  in  ourselves;  even  that  grace  which  shall  help  us 
such  to  be,  and  such  to  do,  as  Thou  wouldst  have  us.  O  our 
God,  let  Thy  grace  be  sufficient  for  us,  and  ever  present  with 

239 


[X-3]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

us,  that  we  may  do  all  things  as  we  ought.  We  will  trust  in 
Thee,  in  whom  is  everlasting  strength.  Be  Thou  our  Helper, 
to  carry  us  on  beyond  our  own  strength,  and  to  make  all  that 
we  think,  and  speak,  and  do,  acceptable  in  Thy  sight;  through 
Jesus  Christ.  Amen. — Benjamin  Jenks,  1646. 


Tenth  Week,  Third  Day 

Jehovah  is  my  shepherd;  I  shall  not  want. 

He  maketh  me  to  lie  down  in  green  pastures; 

He  leadeth  me  beside  still  waters. 

He  restoreth  my  soul: 

He  guideth  me  in  the  paths  of  righteousness  for  his  name's 

sake. 
Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of 

death, 

I  will  fear  no  evil;  for  thou  art  with  me; 
Thy  rod  and  thy  staff,  they  comfort  me. 

— Psalm  23:  1-4. 

What  expectations  are  awakened  by  such  a  passage !  Many 
have  come  into  the  Christian  life  because  in  experience  they 
have  found  that  "it  is  not  in  man  that  walketh  to  direct  his 
steps."  They  wanted  a  Guide  in  the  mysterious  pilgrimage 
of  life,  and  in  the  words  of  hymns  like,  "He  leadeth  me,  O 
blessed  thought !"  they  saw  the  promise  of  a  God-conducted 
experience.  But  they  are  disappointed.  They  have  the  same 
old  puzzles  to  face  ^about  what  they  ought  to  do ;  they  have 
no  divine  illumination  that  clears  up  in  advance  their  un- 
certainty as  to  the  wisdom  of  their  choices ;  they  are  not 
vividly  aware  of  any  guidance  from  above  to  save  them  from 
the  perplexities  which  their  companions  face  about  conduct 
and  career.  Of  course  part  of  their  difficulty  is  due  to  false 
expectation.  Not  even  Paul  or  John  was  given  mechanical 
guidance,  infallible  and  unmistakable;  they  never  had  a  syl- 
labus of  all  possible  emergencies  with  clear  directions  as  to 
what  should  be  done  in  every  case ;  they  were  guided  through 
their  normal  faculties  made  sensitive  to  divine  suggestion, 
and  doubtless  they  never  could  clearly  distinguish  between 
their  thought  and  their  inspirations.  Divine  guidance  did  not 
save  them  from  puzzling  perplexkies  and  unsure  decisions. 
But  it  did  give  them  certainty  that  they  were  in  God's  hands  ; 
that  he  had  hold  of  the  reins  behind  their  human  grasp; 

240 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  FORGIl'EXESS      [X-4] 

that  when  they  did  wisely  and  prayerfully  the  best  they  knew, 
he  would  use  it  somehow  to  his  service.  And  so  far  as  the 
vivid  consciousness  of  being  guided  is  concerned,  that  prob- 
ably came  in  retrospect;  when  they  saw  how  the  road  came 
out,  they  agreed  that  God's  hand  must  have  been  in  the 
journey.  Such  an  experience  it  is  reasonable  to  expect  and 
possible  to  have. 

O  God  our  Lord,  the  stay  of  all  them  that  put  their  trust  in 
Thee,  wherever  Thou  leadest  we  would  go,  for  Thy  ways  are 
perfect  wisdom  and  love.  Even  when  we  walk  through  the 
dark  valley,  Thy  light  can  shine  into  our  hearts  and  guide  us 
safely  through  the  night  of  sorrow'.  Be  Thou  our  Friend,  and 
we  need  ask  no  more  in  heaven  or  earth,  for  Thou  art  the 
Comfort  of  all  who  trust  in  Thee,  the  Help  and  Defence  of 
all  who  hope  in  Thee.  O  Lord,  we  Zi-onld  be  Thine;  let  us 
never  fall  att'ov  from  Thee.  U'e  would  accept  all  things  with- 
out murmuring  from  Thy  liand,  for  w'hatever  Thou  dost  is 
right.  Blend  our  wills  with  Thine,  and  then  we  need  fear  no 
evil  nor  death  itself,  for  all  things  must  work  together  for 
our  good.  Lord,  keep  us  in  Thy  love  and  truth,  comfort  us 
with  Thy  light,  and  guide  us  by  Thy  Holy  Spirit;  through 
Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Amen. — S.  Weiss,  1738. 


Tenth  Week,  Fourth  Day 

Many  folk  grow  up  into  the  Christian  life,  and  so  interpret 
the  love  of  God  that  they  expect  from  him  affectionate 
mothering;  they  look  to  him  to  keep  them  from  trouble.  In 
childhood,  sheltered  from  life's  tragic  incidents,  this  expecta- 
tion was  more  or  less  realized ;  but  now  in  maturity  they  are 
disappointed.  God  has  not  saved  them  from  trouble;  he  has 
not  dealt  with  them  in  maternal  tenderness.  Rather  Job's 
complaint  to  God  is  on  their  lips : 

I  cry  unto  thee,  and  thou  dost  not  answer  me: 

I  stand  up,  and  thou  gazest  at  me. 

Thou  art  turned  to  be  cruel  to  me; 

With  the  might  of  thy  hand  thou  persecutest  me. 

Did  not  I  weep  for  him  that  was  in  trouble? 
Was  not  my  soul  grieved  for  the  needy? 

241 


[X-4]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

When  I  looked  for  good,  then  evil  came; 

And  when  I  waited  for  light,  there  came  darkness. 

My  heart  is  troubled,  and  resteth  not; 

Days  of  affliction  are  come  upon  me. 

— Job  30:  20,  .21;  25-27. 

One  such  disappointed  spirit  says  that  in  youth,  even  if  she 
hurt  her  finger,  she  was  told  to  pray  to  God  and  he  would 
take  away  the  bruise ;  but  now  life  does  not  seem  to  be 
directed  by  that  kind  of  a  God  at  all.  It  isn't!  A  pregnant 
source  of  lost  faith  is  to  be  found  in  this  unscriptural  pres- 
entation of  God's  love.  In  Scripture  God's  love  for  his  peo- 
ple and  their  tragic  suffering  are  put  side  by  side,  and  the 
Cross  where  the  well-beloved  Son  is  crucified  is  typical  of 
the  whole  Book's  assertion  ihat  God  does  not  keep  his  chil- 
dren from  trouble.  Sometimes  he  leads  them  into  it ;  and 
always  he  lets  the  operation  of  his  essential  laws  sweep  on, 
so  that  disease  and  accident  and  death  are  no  respecters 
of  character.  When  Ananias  was  sent  with  God's  message 
to  the  newly  converted  Paul,  that  greeting  into  the  Christian 
life  concerned  "how  many  things  he  must  suffer"  (Acts  9: 
16).  Whatever  else  our  faith  must  take  into  account,  this  is 
an  unescapable  fact :  we  are  seeking  the  impossible  when  we 
ask  that  our  lives  be  arranged  on  the  basis  that  we  shall  not 
face  trouble.  Faith  means  a  conquering  confidence  that  good 
will,  a  purpose  of  eternal  love,  runs  through  the  whole  process. 
It  says,  not  apart  from  suffering,  but  in  the  face  of  it: 

"I'm  apt  to  think  the  man 

That  could  surround  the  sum  of  things,  and  spy 
The  heart  of  God  and  secrets  of  his  empire, 
Would  speak  but  love — with  him  the  bright  result 
Would  change  the  hue  of  intermediate  scenes, 
And  make  one  thing  of  all  Theology." 

Almighty  God  to  whom  all  things  belong,  whose  is  light  and 
darkness,  whose  is  good  and  evil,  Master  of  all  things,  Lord 
of  all;  who  hast  so  ordered  it,  that  life  from  the  beginning 
shall  be  a  struggle  throughout  the  course,  and  even  to  the 
end;  so  guide  and  order  that  struggle  within  us,  that  at  last 
"what  is  good  in  us  may  conquer,  and  all  evil  be  overcome, 
that  all  things  may  be  brought  into  harmony,  and  God  may 
be  all  in  all.  So  do  Thou  guide  and  govern  us,  that  every 

242 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  FORGIVENESS     [X-s] 

day  whatsoever  betide  us,  some  gain  to  better  things,  some 
more  blessed  joy  in  higher  things  may  be  ours,  that  so  we, 
though  but  n-eaklings,  may  yet,  God-guided,  go  from  strength 
to  strength,  until  at  last,  delivered  from  that  burden  of  the 
flesh,  through  which  comes  so  much  struggling,  we  may  enter 
into  the  land  of  harmony  and  of  eternal  peace.  Hear  us,  of 
Thy  mercy;  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Amen. — George 
Dawson,  1877. 

Tenth  Week,  Fifth  Day 

Till  we  all  attain  unto  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  fullgrown  man,  unto 
the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ:  that 
we  may  be  no  longer  children,  tossed  to  and  fro  and  car- 
ried about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine,  by  the  sleight 
of  men,  in  craftiness,  after  the  wiles  of  error;  but  speak- 
ing truth  in  love,  may  grow  up  in  all  things  into  him, 
who  is  the  head,  even  Christ. — Eph.  4:  13-15. 

Many  came  into  the  Christian  life  familiar  with  such  an 
idea  of  growth.  They  expected  the  new  life  to  be  an  enlarg- 
ing experience,  with  new  vistas,  deepening  satisfactions,  in- 
creasing certitude.  If  at  the  beginning  the  Christian  way  did 
not  content  them,  they  blamed  their  immaturity  for  the  un- 
satisfactory experience;  they  appealed  to  the  days  ahead  for 
fuller  light.  But  they  are  disappointed.  They  have  not 
grown.  The  most  they  can  claim  is  that  they  are  stationary; 
the  haunting  suspicion  cannot  altogether  be  avoided  that 
their  faith  is  dwindling  and  their  fervor  burning  down.  This 
difficulty  is  not  strange — with  many  folk  it  is  inevitable;  for 
they  have  never  grasped  the  fact  that  the  Christian  life, 
like  all  life  whatsoever,  is  law-abiding,  and  that  to  expect 
effects  without  cause  is  vain.  That  a  Christian  experience 
has  begun  with  promise  does  not  mean  that  it  will  magically 
continue;  that  the  spirit  will  naturally  drift  into  an  enlarg- 
ing life.  An  emotional  conversion,  like  a  flaming  meteor, 
may  plunge  into  a  man's  heart,  and  soon  cool  off,  leaving  a 
dead,  encysted  stone.  But  to  have  a  real  life  in  God,  that 
begins  like  a  small  but  vital  acorn  and  grows  like  an  aspiring 
oak,  one  must  obey  the  laws  that  make  such  increasing  experi- 
ence possible.  To  keep  fellowship  with  God  unimpeded  by 
sin,  uninterrupted  by  neglect;  to  think  habitually  as  though 

243 


[X-6]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

God  were,  instead  of  casually  believing  that  he  is ;  to  practice 
love  continually  until  love  grows  real ;  and  to  arrange  life's 
program  conscientiously  as  though  the  doing  of  God's  will 
were  life's  first  business — such  things  alone  make  spiritual 
growth  a  possibility.- 

We  desire  to  confess,  O  Lord,  that  we  have  not  lived  ac- 
cording to  our  promises,  nor  according  to  the  thoughts  and 
intents  of  our  hearts.  We  have  felt  the  gravitation  of  things 
that  drew  us  downward  from  things  high  and  holy.  We 
have  followed  right  things  how  feebly!  Weak  are  we  to 
resist  the  attraction  of  evils  that  lurk  about  the  way  of 
goodness;  and  we  are  conscious  that  we  walk  in  a  vain  show. 
We  behold  and  approve  Thy  law,  but  find  it  hard  to  obey; 
and  our  obedience  is  of  the  outside,  and  not  of  the  soul 
and  of  the  spirit,  with  heartiness  and  full  of  certainty.  We 
rejoice  that  Thou  art  a  Teacher  patient  with  Thy  scholars, 
and  that  Thou  art  a  Father  patient  with  Thy  children.  Thou 
art  a  God  of  long-suffering  goodness,  and  of  tender  mercies, 
and  therefore  we  are  not  consumed. 

And  now  we  beseech  of  Thee,  O  Thou  unwearied  One, 
that  Thou  wilt  inspire  us  with  a  heavenly  virtue.  Lift  bcr 
fore  us  the  picture  of  what  we  should  be  and  what  we  should 
do,  and  maintain  it  in  the  light,  that  we  may  not  rub  it  out 
in  forgctfulncss;  that  we  may  be  able  to  keep  before  ourselves 
our  high  calling  in  Christ  Jesus.  And  may  we  press  forward, 
not  as  they  that  have  attained  or  apprehended;  may  we  press 
toward  the  mark,  for  the  prize  of  our  high  calling  in  Christ 
Jesus,  with  new  alacrity,  with  growing  confidence,  and  with 
more  and  more  blessedness  of  joy  and  peace  in  the  soul. 
Amen. — Henry  Ward  Beecher. 

Tenth  Week,  Sixth  Day 

The  Christian  experience  which  disappoints  its  possessor 
by  lack  of  growth  is  common,  because  so  many  leave  the  idea 
of  growth  vague  and  undefined.  They  expect  in  general  to 
grow,  but  in  what  direction,  to  what  describable  results,  they 
never  stop  to  think.  If  we  ran  our  other  business  as  thought- 
lessly, with  as  little  determinate  planning  and  discipline,  as 
we  manage  our  Christian  living,  any  progress  would  t>e  im- 
possible. What,  wonder  that  as  Christians  we  often  resemble 
the  child  who  fell  from  bed  at  night,  and  explained  the  acci- 

244 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  FORGIVENESS     [X-6] 

dent  by  saying,  "I  must  have  gone  to  sleep  too  near  the  place 
whore  I  got  in" ! 

Growth  is  always  in  definite  directions,  and  folk  will  do 
well  at  times,  without  morbid  self-examination,  to  forecast 
their  desired  courses.  Becoming  Christians  from  motives 
of  fear,  as  many  do,  we  should  press  on  to  a  fellowship  with 
God  in  which  fear  vanishes  in  divine  friendship  and  coopera- 
tion. Choosing  the  Christian  life  for  self-centered  reasons, 
because  it  can  do  great  things  for  us,  we  should  press  on  to 
glory  in  it  as  a  Cause  on  which  the  welfare  of  the  race 
depends  and  for  which  we  willingly  make  sacrifice.  Begin- 
ning with  narrow  ideas  of  service  to  our  friends  and  neigh- 
borhood, we  should  press  on  to  genuine  interest  in  the  world- 
field,  in  international  fraternity,  and  in  Christ's  victory  over 
all  mankind.  Such  definite  lines  of  progress  we  well  may  set 
before  us.  And  a  life  that  does  grow,  so  that  each  new 
stage  of  maturing  experience  finds  deeper  levels  and  greater 
heights,  is  never  disappointing;  it  is  life  become  endlessly 
interesting  and  worth  while. 

Not  that  I  have  already  obtained,  or  am  already  made 
perfect:  but  I  press  on,  if  so  be  that  I  may  lay  hold  on 
that  for  which  also  I  was  laid  hold  on  by  Christ  Jesus. 
Brethren,  I  count  not  myself  yet  to  have  laid  hold:  but 
one  thing  I  do,  forgetting  the  things  which  are  behind, 
and  stretching  forward  to  the  things  which  are  before,  I 
press  on  toward  the  goal  unto  the  prize  of  the  high  call- 
ing of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  Let  us  therefore,  as  many 
as  are  perfect,  be  thus  minded:  and  if  in  anything  ye  are 
otherwise  minded,  this  also  shall  God  reveal  unto  you: 
only,  whereunto  we  have  attained,  by  that  same  rule 
let  us  walk. — Phil.  3:  12-16. 

Our  Father,  we  pray  Thee  that  we  may  use  the  blessings 
Thou  hast  given  us,  and  never  once  abuse  them.  We  would 
keep  our  bodies  enchanted  still  with  handsome  life,  wisely 
would  we  cultivate  the  intellect  which  Thou  hast  throned 
therein,  and  we  would  so  live  with  conscience  active  and  will 
so  strong  that  we  shall  fix'  our  eye  on  the  right,  and,  amid 
all  the  distress  and  trouble,  the  good  report  and  the  evil, 
of  our  mortal  life,  steer  straightway  there,  and  bate  no  jot 
of  human  heart  or  hope.  We  pray  Thee,  that  we  may  cultivate 
still  more  these  kindly  hearts  of  ours,  and  faithfully  perform 
our  duty  to  friend  and  acquaintance,  to  lover  and  beloved,  to 

245 


[X-7]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

•wife  and  child,  to  neighbor  and  nation,  and  to  all  mankind. 
May  we  feel  our  brotherhood  to  the  whole  human  race, 
remembering  that  nought  human  is  strange  to  our  flesh  but 
is  kindred  to  our  soul.  Our  Father,  we  pray  that  we  may 
grow  continually  in  true  piety,  bringing  down  everything 
which  would  unduly  exalt  itself,  and  lifting  up  what  is  lowly 
within  us,  till,  though  our  outward  man  perish,  yet  our  in- 
ward man  shall  be  renewed  day  by  day,  and  within  us  all 
shall  be  fair  and  beautiful  to  Thee,  and  without  us  our  daily 
lives  useful,  our  whole  consciousness  blameless  in  Thy  sight. 
Amen. — Theodore  Parker. 

Tenth  Week,  Seventh  Day 

While  some,  for  reasons  such  as  we  have  suggested,  have 
made  at  least  a  partial  failure  of  the  Christian  life,  and  are 
tempted  to  feel  that  their  experience  is  an  argument  against 
it,  we  may  turn  with  confidence  to  the  multitude  who  have 
found  life  with  Christ  an  ineffable  blessing. 

There  is  therefore  now  no  condemnation  to  them  that 
are  in  Christ  Jesus.  For  the  law  of  the  Spirit  of  life  in 
Christ  Jesus  made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and  of 
death.  For  what  the  law  could  not  do,  in  that  it  was  weak 
through  the  flesh,  God,  sending  his  own  Son  in  the  like- 
ness of  sinful  flesh  and  for  sin,  condemned  sin  in  the  flesh: 
that  the  ordinance  of  the  law  might  be  fulfilled  in  us, 
who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the  Spirit.  For 
they  that  are  after  the  flesh  mind  the  things  of  the  flesh; 
but  they  that  are  after  the  Spirit  the  things  of  the  Spirit. 
For  the  mind  of  the  flesh  is  death;  but  the  mind  of  the 
Spirit  is  life  and  peace. — Rom.  8:  1-6. 

Innumerable  disciples  of  Jesus  can  subscribe  to  this  Pauline 
testimony,  and  the  center  of  their  gratitude,  as  of  his,  is  the 
victory  over  sin  which  faith  in  Christ  has  given  them.  The 
farther  they  go  with  him  the  more  wonderful  becomes  the 
meaning  of  his  Gospel.  What  Thomas  Fuller,  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  wrote  about  the  Bible,  they  feel  about  their 
whole  relationship  with  Christ :  "Lord,  this  morning  I  read 
a  chapter  in  the  Bible,  and  therein  observed  a  memorable  pas- 
sage, whereof  I  never  took  notice  before.  Why  now,  and  no 
sooner,  did  I  see  it?  Formerly  my  eyes  were  as  open,  and 
the  letters  as  legible.  Is  there  not  a  thin  veil  laid  over  Thy 

246 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  FORGIVENESS     [X-cJ 

Word,  which  is  more  rarified  by  reading,  and  at  last  wholly 
worn  away?  I  see  the  oil  of  Thy  Word  will  never  leave 
increasing  whilst  any  bring  an  empty  barrel."  As  for  the 
consciousness  of  filial  alliance  with  the  God  and  Father  of 
Jesus,  that  has  been  a  deepening  benediction.  How  many  can 
take  over  the  dual  inscription  on  an  ancient  Egyptian  temple, 
as  an  expression  of  their  own  experience!  A  priest  had 
written,  in  the  name  of  the  Deity,  "I  am  He  who  was  and  is 
and  ever  shall  be,  and  my  veil  hath  no  man  lifted."  But 
near  at  hand,  some  man  of  growing  life  and  deepening  faith 
has  added:  "Veil  after  veil  have  we  lifted,  and  ever  the  Face 
is  more  wonderful." 

Eternal  and  Gracious  Father,  -whose  presence  comforteth 
like  sunshine  after  rain;  we  thank  Thee  for  Thyself  and  for 
all  Thy  revelation  to  us.  Our  hearts  are  burdened  with 
thanksgiving  at  the  thought  of  all  Thy  mercies;  for  all  the 
blessings  of  this  mortal  life,  for  health,  for  reason,  for  learn- 
ing, and  for  lore;  but  far  beyond  all  thought  and  thankful- 
ness, for  Thy  great  redemption.  It  was  no  painless  travail 
that  brought  us  to  the  birth,  it  has  been  no  common  patience 
that  has  borne  with  us  all  this  while;  long-suffering  love,  and 
the  breaking  of  the  eternal  heart  alone  could  reconcile  us  to 
the  life  to  which  Thou  hast  ordained  us.  We  have  seen  the 
Son  of  Man  sharing  our  sickness  and  shrinking  not  from  our 
shame,  we  have  beheld  the  Lamb  of  God  bearing  the  sins  of 
the  world,  we  have  mourned  at  the  mysterious  passion  and 
stood  astonished  at  the  cross  of  Jesus  Christ;  and  behind  all 
we  have  had  the  vision  of  an  altar-throne  and  one  thereon 
slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world;  heard  a  voice  calling 
us  that  was  full  of  tears;  seen  beyond  the  veil  that  was  rent, 
the  agony  of  God. 

O  for  a  thousand  tongues  to  sing  the  love  that  has  redeemed 
us.  O  for  a  thousand  lives  that  we  might  yield  them  all  to 
Thee.  Amen. — W.  E.  Orchard. 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 

I 

Hitherto  in  our  studies  we  have  thought  of  God  as  the  ob- 
ject of  our  faith.  From  the  beginning,  to  be  sure,  we  have 
been  using  the  Master  as  the  Way.  The  God  who  is  in  earn- 

247 


[X-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

est  about  immortal  personalities  is  supremely  revealed  in 
Jesus  Christ.  But  through  Christ's  mediation  we  have  been 
trying  to  pierce  to  the  Eternal  character  and  purpose ;  we 
have  been  taking  Jesus  at  his  word,  "He  that  believeth  on  me, 
believeth  not  on  me  but  on  him  that  sent  me"  (John  12:44). 

The  meaning  of  faith  for  the  Christian,  however,  cannot  be 
left  as  though  Christ  were  an  instrument  which  God  used 
for  his  revealing  and  then  thrust  aside,  a  symbol  in  terms 
of  whom  we  may  poetically  picture  God.  Christ  has  been  for 
his  people  more  than  a  transparent  pane,  itself  almost  forget- 
table, through  which  the  divine  light  shone.  His  personality 
has  been  central  and  dominant,  and  when  his  disciples  have 
most  vividly  expressed  the  meaning  of  their  faith  they  have 
said  that  they  believed  in  him.  The  first  Christians  whose 
experience  is  enshrined  in  the  New  Testament  did  not  deal 
with  faith  in  God  alone.  They  adored  Jesus ;  they  were 
inimitably  thankful  to  him;  they  rejoiced  to  call  themselves 
his  bondservants  and  to  suffer  for  him ;  they  claimed  him  as 
a  brother,  but  they  acknowledged  him  their  Lord  as  well ; 
and  they  bowed  before  him  with  inexpressible  devotion. 
"They  all  set  him  in  the  same  incomparable  place.  They  all 
acknowledged  to  him  the  same  immeasurable  debt." 

One  -need  not  read  far  in  the  New  Testament  to  see  why 
these  first  disciples  so  adored  their  Lord.  He  was  their 
Savior.  They  called  him  by  many  other  names — Messiah, 
Logos,  Son  of  Man,  and  Son  of  God — in  their  endeavor  to 
do  justice  to  his  work  and  character,  but  one  name  shines 
'  among  all  the  rest  and  swings  them  about  it  like  planets  round 
a  sun.  He  is  the  Savior.  From  the  annunciation  to  Joseph, 
"Thou  shalt  call  his  name  Jesus ;  for  it  is  he  that  shall  save  his 
people  from  their  sins"  (Matt.  1:21),  to  the  New  Song  of 
the  Apocalypse  (Rev.  5:5-13),  the  New  Testament  is  written 
around  the  central  theme  of  saviorhood.  These  first  disciples 
were  vividly  aware  of  an  abysmal  need,  which  had  been  met 
in  Christ,  a  great  peril  from  which  through  him  they  had 
escaped ;  and  throughout  the  New  Testament  one  never  loses 
the  accent  of  astonished  gratitude,  from  f6lk  who  were  once 
slaves  and  now  are  free,  who  from  victims  have  been  turned 
to  victors.  When  Wilberforce's  long  campaign  for  the  free- 
ing of  British  slaves  was  at  its  climax,  the  population  of 
Jamaica  lined  the  shore  for  days  awaiting  the  ship  that  should 
bring  news  of  Parliament's  decision.  And  when  from  a  boat's 

248 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  FORGIVENESS     [X-c] 

prow  the  messenger  cried  "Freedom,"  the  island  rang  with 
the  thanksgiving  of  the  liberated.  Such  rejoicing  one  hears 
in  the  New  Testament.  The  disciples  speak  of  the  freedom 
wherewith  Christ  has  set  them  free  (Gal.  5:1);  they  say  that 
they  were  dead  and  now  are  made  alive  (Rom.  6:11-13); 
once  overwhelmed  by  sin,  they  now  cry,  "More  than  con- 
querors" (Rom.  8:37).  Nor  have  they  any  doubt  who  is  the 
agent  or  what  is  the  agency  of  their  salvation :  Christ  is  the 
Savior  and  faith  the  means.  "This  is  the  victory  that  hath 
overcome  the  world,"  they  cry,  "even  our  faith"  (I  John  5:4). 

If  we  are  to  understand  this  attitude  of  the  first  disciples 
toward  Christ  the  Savior,  i>.'e  must  appreciate  as  they  did  the  / 
peril  from  which  he  rescued  them.  One  cannot  understand  the 
meaning  of  any  character  who,  like  Moses,  delivered  a  people 
from  their  bondage,  unless  he  deeply  feels  the  importance 
of  the  problem  to  whose  solution  the  man  contributed.  Moses 
shines  out  against  the  background  of  a  nation's  trouble  like 
a  star  against  the  midnight  sky.  When  the  blackness  of  the 
night  is  gone,  the  star  has  vanished,  too.  The  race's  deliverers 
never  can  retain  their  brightness  in  our  gratitude  unless  we 
keep  alive  in  our  remembrance  the  evil  against  which  they 
fought.  If  we  would  know  Moses,  we  must  know  Pharaoh; 
if  we  would  know  Wellington,  we  must  know  Napoleon.  If 
we  are  to  value  truly  the  great  educators,  we  must  estimate 
aright  the  blight  that  ignorance  lays  on  human  life.  John 
Howard  will  be  nothing  to  us,  if  we  do  not  know  the  ancient 
prison  system  in  comparison  with  which  even  our  modern 
jails  are  paradise;  and  Florence  Nightingale  will  be  an 
empty  name,  if  we  cannot  imagine  the  terrors  of  war  without 
a  nurse.  Always  we  must  see  the  stars  against  the  night. 

Nor  is  there  any  other  way  in  which  a  Christian  can  keep 
alive  a  vital  understanding  of  his  Lord.  Many  modern  Chris- 
tians seem  to  have  lost  vision  of  the  problem  that  Jesus  came 
to  solve,  of  the  human  peril  to  whose  conquest  he  made  the 
supreme  contribution.  They  think  that  the  Church  has  adored 
Jesus  because  of  a  metaphysical  theory  about  him,  but  all 
theories  concerning  Christ  have  arisen  from  a  previous  devo- 
tion to  him.  Or  they  think  that  Jesus  is  adored  because  he 
was  so  uniquely  beautiful  in  character.  But  while  without 
this  his  people  never  would  have  called  him  Lord,  not  on  this 
account  chiefly  have  they  looked  on  him  with  inexpressible 
devotion.  No  one  can  understand  the  Christian  attitude 

249 


[X-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

toward  Jesus  except  in  terms  of  the  bondage  from  which  he 
came  to  rescue  us.  There  is  a  human  cry  that  makes  his 
advent  meaningful;  it  is  like  the  night  behind  the  star  of 
Bethlehem.  Long  ago  a  Psalmist  heard  that  cry  and  every 
age  and  land  and  soul  has  echoed  it,  "My  sins  are  mightier 
than  I"  (Psalm  65I3).1 

II 

The  peril  of  sin  as  the  innermost  problem  of  human  life 
is  in  these  days  obscure  to  many  minds.  For  one  thing,  sin 
has  been  so  continuously  preached  about,  that  it  seems  to  some 
an  ecclesiastical  question,  fit  for  discussion,  it  may  be,  in  a 
church  on  Sunday,  but  otherwise  not  often  emerging  in 
ordinary  thought.  But  sin  is  no  specialty  of  preaching.  If 
a  man,  forgetting  churches  and  sermons,  seriously  ponders 
human  life  as  he  knows  it  actually  to  be,  if  he  gathers  up  in 
his  imagination  the  deepest  heartaches  of  the  race,  its  worst 
diseases,  its  most  hopeless  miseries,  its  ruined  childhood,  its 
dissevered  families,  its  fallen  states,  its  devastated  continents, 
he  soon  will  see  that  the  major  cause  of  all  this  can  be  spelled 
with  three  letters — sin.  To  make  vivid  this  peril  as  the  very 
crux  of  humanity's  problem  on  the  earth,  one  needs  at  times 
to  leave  behind  the  customary  thoughts  and  phrases  of  religion 
and  to  seek  testimony  from  sources  that  the  Church  frequently 
forgets.  When  governments  try  to  build  social  states  where 
equity  and  happiness  shall  reign,  their  prison  systems,  their 
criminal  codes,  their  courts  of  law  loudly  advertise  that  their 
problem  lies  in  sin.  When  jurists  plan  leagues  of  nations  and 
sign  covenants  to  make  the  world  a  more  fraternal  place,  only 
to  find  greed,  hate,  and  cruelty  demolishing  their  well-laid 
schemes,  their  failure  uncovers  the  crucial  problem  of  man's 
sin.  When'  philanthropists  try  to  lift  from  man's  bent  back 
the  burdens  that  oppress  him,  it  becomes  plain  how  infinitely 
their  task  would  be  lightened,  if  it  were  not  for  sin.  As  for 
literature — where  the  seers,  regardless  of  religious  prejudice, 
have  tried  to  see  into  the  human  heart  and  truly  to  report  their 
insights — its  witness  is  overwhelming  as  to  what  man's  prob- 
lem is.  No  great  book  of  creative  literature  was  ever  written 
without  sin  at  the  center.  Macbeth,  Hamlet,  Othello,  Faust, 
Les  Miserables,  Romola,  The  Scarlet  Letter — let  the  list  be 


1  "Iniquities  prevail  against  me." 

250 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  FORGIVEXESS     [X-c] 

extended  in  any  direction  and  to  any  length !  Always  the 
insight  of  the  creative  seers  reports  one  inner  peril  of  the 
race.  Sin  is  no  bogey  erected  by  the  theologians,  no  ghost 
imagined  by  minds  grown  morbid  with  the  fear  of  God.  Sin 
to  every  seeing  eye  is  the  one  most  real  and  practical  problem 
of  mankind. 

For  another  reason  this  crucial  problem  is  dimly  seen  by 
many  minds:  we  do  not  often  use  the  word  about  ourselves. 
The  hardest  thing  that  any  man  can  ever  say  is  "I  have 
sinned."  We  make  mistakes,  we  have  foibles  of  character  and 
conduct,  we  even  fall  into  error — but  we  do  not  often  sin. 
By  such  devices  we  avoid  the  painful  consciousness  of  our 
inward  malady  and  even  the  name  of  our  disease  is  banished 
from  decorous  speech.  But  sin  does  not  go  into  exile  with 
its  name.  Sin  has  many  aliases  and  can  swiftly  shift  its  guise 
to  gain  a  welcome  into  any  company. 

Sin  in  the  slums  is  gross  and  terrible.  It  staggers  down 
the  streets,  blasphemes  with  oaths  that  can  be  heard,  wallows 
in  vice  unmentionable  by  modest  lips.  Then  some  day  pros- 
perity may  visit  it.  It  moves  to  a  finer  residence,  seeks  the 
suburbs,  or  finds  domicile  on  a  college  campus.  It  changes 
all  its  clothes.  Xo  longer  is  it  indecent  and  obscene.  Its 
speech  is  mild,  its  civility  is  irreproachable.  It  gathers  a  com- 
pany of  friends  who  minister  to  pleasure  and  respectability, 
and  the  cry  of  the  world's  need  dies  unheard  at  its  peaceful 
door.  It  presses  its  face  continually  through  the  pickets  of 
social  allowance,  like  a  bad  boy  who  wishes  to  trespass  on 
forbidden  ground  but  fears  the  consequence.  Its  goodness  is 
superficial  seeming ;  at  heart  it  is  as  bad  as  it  dares  to  be.  It 
has  completely  changed  its  garments,  but  it  is  the  same  sin — 
indulgent,  selfish,  and  unclean.  Sin,  as  anyone  can  easily 
observe,  takes  a  very  high  polish. 

Xeither  by  calling  sin  an  ecclesiastical  concern  nor  by  cov- 
ering its  presence  in  ourselves  with  pleasant  euphemisms  can 
we  hide  its  deadly  bane  in  human  life.  The  truth  and  im- 
port of  this  negative  statement  become  clear  and  convincing 
when  its  positive  counterpart  is  faced.  The  world  needs 
goodness.  The  one  thing  in  which  mankind  is  poor  and  for 
the  lack  of  which  great  causes  lag  and  noble  hopes  go  unful- 
filled is  character.  With  each  access  of  that  humanity  leaps 
forward;  with  the  sag  of  that  all  else  is  failure.  And  the  one 
name  for  every  loss  and  lack  and  ruin  of  character  is  sin. 

251 


[X-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

That  is  our  enemy.  Upon  the  defeat  of  that  all  our  dearest 
hopes  depend,  and  in  its  victory  every  dream  of  good  that  the 
race  has  cherished  comes  to  an  end. 

Ill 

The  urgency  of  this  truth  is  manifest  when  we  note  the  con- 
sequence of  sin  in  our  own  lives.  No  statement  from  antiq- 
uity has  accumulated  more  confirming  evidence  in  the  ,course 
of  the  centuries  than  the  Psalmist's  cry,  "My  sins  are  mightier 
than  I."  Let  us  consider  its  truth  in  the  light  of  our  expe- 
rience. 

Our  sins  are  stronger  than  we  are  in  their  power  to  fasten 
on  us  a  sense  of  guilt  that  we  cannot  shake  off.  Sinful  pleas- 
ures lure  us  only  in  anticipation,  dancing  before  us  like 
Salome  before  her  uncle,  quite  irresistible  in  fascination. 
Happiness  seems  altogether  to  depend  upon  an  evil  deed. 
But  on  the  day  that  deed,  long  held  in  alluring  expectation,  is 
actually  done — how  swift  and  terrible  the  alteration  in  its 
aspect !  It  passes  from  anticipation,  through  committal,  into 
memory,  and  it  never  will  be  beautiful  again.  We  lock  it  in 
remembrance,  as  in  the  bloody  room  of  Bluebeard's  palace, 
where  the  dead  things  hung;  at  the  thought  of  it  we  shrink 
and  yet  to  it  our  reminiscence  continually  is  drawn.  Some- 
thing happens  in  us  as  automatic  as  the  dropping  of  a  loos- 
ened apple  from  a  tree;  all  the  laws  of  the  moral  universe 
conspire  to  further  it  and  we  have  no  power  to  prevent :  sin 
becomes  guilt.  When  on  a  lonely  ocean  the  floating  bell- 
buoys  toll,  no  human  hands  cause  them  to  ring;  the  waste  of 
an  unpeopled  ocean  surrounds  them  everyway.  The  sea  by  its 
own  restlessness  is  ringing  its  own  bells.  So  tolls  remorse 
in  a  man's  heart  and  no  man  can  stop  it. 

Our  sins  are  stronger  than  we  are  in  their  power  to  become 
habitual.  If  one  who  steps  from  an  upper  window  had  only 
the  single  act  to  consider,  his  problem  would  be  simple.  He 
could  step  or  not  as  he  chose.  But  when  one  steps  from  an 
upper  window  he  finds  himself  dealing  with  a  power  over 
which  his  will  has  no  control.  Master  of  his  single  act,  he  is 
not  master  of  the  gravitation  that  succeeds  it.  Many  a  youth 
blithely  plays  with  sin,  supposing  that  separate  deeds — which 
he  may  do  or  refrain  from  as  he  will — make  up  the  problem. 
Soon  or  late  he  finds  that  he  is  dealing  with  moral  laws,  built 

252 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  FORGIVENESS     [X-cJ 

into  the  structure  of  the  universe  as  gravitation  is — laws 
which  he  did  not  create  and  whose  operation  he  cannot  con- 
trol. By  them  with  terrific  certainty  thoughts  grow  to  deeds, 
deeds  to  habits,  habits  to  character,  character  to  destiny. 

At  the  beginning  sin  always  comes  disguised  as  liberty.  Its 
lure  is  the  seductive  freedom  which  it  promises  from  the 
trammels  of  conscience  and  the  authority  of  law.  But  every 
man  who  ever  yet  accepted  sin's  offer  of  a  free,  unfettered 
life,  discovered  the  cheat.  Free  to  do  the  evil  thing,  to  indulge 
the  baser- moods — so  men  begin,  but  they  end  not  free  to  stop, 
bound  as  slaves  to  the  thing  that  they  were  free  to  do.  They 
have  been  at  liberty  to  play  with  a  cuttle-fish,  and  now  that 
the  first  long  arm  with  its  suckers  grasps  them,  and  the  second 
arm  is  waving  near,  they  are  not  at  liberty  to  get  away. 

Our  sins  are  mightier  than  we  are  in  their  power  to  make 
us  tempt  our  fcllo'^'s.  When  we  picture  our  sinfulness,  even 
to  ourselves,  we  naturally  represent  our  lives  assailed  by  the 
allurements  of  evil  and  passively  surrendering.  We  are 
the  tempted ;  we  pity  ourselves  because  the  outward  pressure 
was  too  strong  for  the  inward  braces.  We  forget  that  in 
sin  we  are  not  simply  the  passive  subjects  of  temptation; 
sin  always  makes  us  active  tempters  of  our  fellows.  No  drug 
fiend  ever  is  content  until  he  wins  a  comrade  in  his  vice ;  a 
thief  would  have  his  friends  steal,  too ;  a  gossip  is  not  satis- 
fied until  other  lips  are  tearing  reputations  into  shreds ;  and 
vindictiveness  is  happiest  when  other  hearts  as  well  are  lighted 
with  lurid  tempers.  Sin  always  is  contagious  as  disease  is ; 
the  tempted  becomes  tempter  on  the  instant  that  he  falls. 
Peter  weak,  lures  Jesus  to  his  weakness,  and  the  Master  recog- 
nizes the  active  quality  of  his  disciple's  sin ;  "Get  thee  behind 
me,  Satan!"  (Matt.  16:23).  Sin  satanizes  men  and  sends 
them  out  to  seduce  their  fellows.  When,  therefore,  a  sensi- 
tive man  repents  of  his  evil,  he  abhors  himself — not  mildly  as 
a  victim,  but  profoundly  as  a  victimizer.  He  repents  of  the 
way  he  has  played  Satan  to  others,  sometimes  deliberately, 
sometimes  by  the  unconscious  influence  of  an  unworthy  spirit. 
He  remembers  the  times  when  his  words  have  poisoned  the 
atmosphere  which  others  breathed,  when  his  tempers  have 
conjured  up  evil  spirits  in  other  hearts,  when  his  attitude  has 
made  wrongdoing  easy  for  his  friends  and  family,  and  well- 
doing hard.  And  his  desperate  helplessness  in  the  face  of  sin 
is  made  most  evident  when  he  recalls  the  irrecoverable 

253 


IX-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

injury  which  lives  have  suffered  and  are  suffering,  hurt,  per- 
haps ruined,  by  his  evil. 

Our  sins  arc  mightier  than  we  are  in  their  power  to  bring 
their  natural  consequences  upon  other  lives.  The  landlord, 
of  whom  President  Hyde  has  told,  who  without  disinfection 
rented  to  a  new  family  an  apartment  where  a  perilous  disease 
had  been,  is  typical  of  every  evil-doer.  When  the  only  child 
of  the  incoming  family  fell  sick  of  the  disease  and  died,  and 
the  landlord  was  faced  with  his  guilt,  he  pleaded  his  unwill- 
ingness to  spend  the  money  which  the  disinfection  would  have 
cost.  He  denied  his  Lord  for  ten  dollars.  Let  the  law  punish 
him  as  it  can,  the  crux  of  his  moral  problem  lies  in  the  fact 
that  however  much  he  may  be  sorry  now,  he  never  can  bear 
all  the  consequences  of  his  sin.  Somewhere  there  is  a  child- 
less home  bearing  part  of  the  result  of  his  iniquity.  One 
who  had  done  a  deed  like  that  might  well  crave  death  and 
oblivion.  But  everyone  who  ever  sinned  is  in  that  estate. 
No  man  ever  succeeded  in  building  around  his  evil  a  wall  high 
and  thick  enough  to  contain  all  evil's  consequences.  They 
always  flow  over  and  seep  through ;  they  fall  in  cruel  dis- 
aster on  those  who  love  us  best.  One  never  estimates  his  sin 
aright  until  he  sees  that  no  man  ever  bears  all  the  results  of 
his  own  evil.  Always  our  sins  nail  somebody  else  to  a  cross ; 
they  even  "crucify  .  .  .  the  Son  of  God  afresh"  (Heb.  6:6). 

Such  is  the  meaning  of  the  peril  against  whose  background 
the  New  Testament  believers  saw  the  luminous  figure  of  the 
Savior.  Sin  brings  men  into  the  debt  of  a  great  guilt  which 
they  cannot  pay  and  into  the  bondage  of  tyrannous  habits 
which  they  cannot  break;  it  makes  men  tempting  satans  to 
their  fellows,  and  it  hurls  its  results  like  vitriol  across  the 
faces  of  their  family  and  friends.  And  when  one  looks  on 
the  lamentable  evils  of  the  world  at  large,  its  sad  inequities,  its 
furious  wars,  he  sees  no  need  to  deal  delicately  with  sin  or 
to  speak  of  it  in  apologetic  tones.  Sin  is,  as  the  New  Testa- 
ment saw  it,  the  central  problem  of  mankind.  If  anyone  has 
ever  come  with  the  supreme  contribution  to  its  conquest,  the 
face  of  the  world  may  well  be  turned  toward  him  today.*  In 
the  Christian's  faith,  such  a  Savior  has  come.  For  if  the 
visitor  from  Mars  who  so  often  has  been  imagined  coming 
to  earth,  should  come  again,  and  amazed  at  the  churches 
built,  the  anthems  sung,  the  service  wrought  in  Jesus'  name, 
should  curiously  inquire  what  this  character  had  done  to 

254 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  FORGIVENESS     [X-c] 

awaken  such  response,  we  should  have  to  answer:  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  made  no  direct  contribution  to  science  or  art  or 
government  or  law — with  none  of  these  important  realms  did 
he  concern  himself.  Only  one  thing  he  did:  he  made  the 
indispensable  contribution  to  man's  fight  for  great  character 
against  sin.  And  because  that  is  man's  crucial  problem,  all 
science,  art,  government,  and  law  are  under  an  unpayable 
indebtedness  to  him.  Because  that  is  man's  innermost  need, 
his  birthday  has  become  the  hinge  of  history,  until  one  cannot 
write  a  letter  to  his  friend  without  dating  his  familiar  act 
from  the  advent  of  him  who  came  to  save  us  in  our  struggle 
for  godliness  against  evil. 

IV 

Faith  in  Christ  has  a  double  relationship  with  the  problem 
of  man's  sin;  it  concerns  the  basis  on  which  we  arc  to  be 
judged  and  the  strength  by  which  ice  are  to  conquer.  Christ 
has  brought  to  men  a  gospel  of  forgiveness  and  power.  With 
regard  to  the  first — and  with  the  first  alone  this  chapter  is 
concerned — the  opinion  of  many  modern  men  is  swift  and 
summary:  folk  are  to  be  judged  by  what  they  do;  the  output 
of  a  man,  as  of  a  machine,  is  the  test  of  him.  Until  this 
popular  method  of  judgment  is  convicted  of  inadequacy,  there 
is  no  hope  of  understanding  what  Christians  have  meant  by 
being  "saved  through  faith"  (Eph.  2:8).  We  must  see  that 
men  are  worth  more  than  they  do. 

A  man's  deeds  alone  are  an  insufficient  basis  for  judgment, 
because  motives  for  the  same  act  may  be  low'  or  high.  No 
one  can  be  unaware  of  the  Master's  meaning  when  he  speaks 
of  those  who  do  their  alms  before  men  to  be  seen  of  them 
(Matt.  6:  iff),  or  of  Paul's  when  he  says,  "If  I  bestow  all  my 
goods  to  feed  the  poor  .  .  .  but  have  not  love"  (I  Cor. 
13 :  3).  Some  men  habitually  shine  to  good  advantage  by  such 
means;  they  have  the  facile  gift  of  putting  their  best  foot 
forward.  Like  a  store  at  Christmas  time,  its  finest  goods  in 
the  window  and  inferior  stock  for  sale  upon  the  counters,  they 
are  infinitely  skilful  in  gaining  more  credit  than  their  worth 
deserves.  One  who  has  dealt  with  such  folk  becomes  aware 
that  to  estimate  an  isolated  deed  is  superficial ;  one  must  know 
the  motive.  A  cup  of  cold  water  or  a  widow's  penny  may 
awake  the  Master's  spirited  approval,  and  millions  rung  into 
the  temple  treasury  by  showy  Pharisees  meet  only  scorn. 

255 


[X-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

Deeds  alone  are  an  insufficient  basis  for  judgment  because, 
while  we  are  more  than  body,  our  bodies  arc  the  instruments 
of  all  that  visibly  me  do.  Many  a  man  in  spirit  is  like  a  swift 
mill  race,  eager  for  service,  but  the  flesh,  a  battered  mill  wheel, 
ill  sustains  the  spirit's  vehemence ;  it  breaks  before  the  shock. 
One  must  shut  the  gates  and  patch  up  the  wheel,  before  the 
spirit,  impatient  for  utterance,  may  have  its  way  again ;  and 
some  mill-wheels  never  can  be  mended.  Says  one  of  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson's  biographers :  "When  a  temporary  illness 
lays  him  on  his  back,  he  writes  in  bed  one  of  his  most  care- 
ful and  thoughtful  papers,  the  discourse  on  'The  Technical 
Elements  in  Style.'  When  ophthalmia  confines  him  to  a 
darkened  room,  he  writes  by  the  diminished  light.  When 
after  hemorrhage,  his  right  hand  has  to  be  hel'd  in  a  sling,  he 
writes  some  of  his  'Child's  Garden'  with  his  left  hand. 
When  the  hemorrhage  has  been  so  bad  that  he  dare  not  speak, 
he  dictates  a  novel  in  the  deaf  and  dumb  alphabet."  When 
one  has  lived  with  handicapped  folk,  discerning  behind  the 
small  amount  of  work  the  infinite  willingness  for  more,  and 
in  the  work  done  a  quality  that  makes  quantity  seem  negligible, 
he  perceives  that  deeds  are  no  sufficient  measure  of  spiritual 
value.  Only  an  eye  that  pierces  behind  ic  unwrought  work  to 
the  man,  willing  while  the  flesh  was  weak,  can  ever  estimate 
how  much  some  spirits  are  worth. 

Deeds  alone  are  an  insufficient  basis  for  judgment  because 
men  face  unequal  opportunities.  Some  start  with  one  talent, 
some  with  ten.  The  cherished  son  of  a  Christian  family  ought 
to  live  a  decent  life;  how  favorable  his  chance!  But  if  a 
vagrant  wharf-rat  by  some  mysterious  vision  of  decency  and 
determination  of  character  makes  a  man  of  himself,  how  much 
more  his  credit!  The  worth  of  goodness  cannot  be  esti- 
mated without  knowledge  of  the  struggle  which  it  cost.  When 
one  considers  the  smug,  conventional  respectability  of  some, 
possessing  every  favorable  help  to  goodness,  and  the  rough 
but  genuine  integrity  of  others  who  have  fought  a  great  fight 
against  crippling  handicaps  to  character,  he  sees  why,  in  any 
righteous  judgment,  the  last  will  be  first,  as  Jesus  said,  and 
the  first  last.  Only  God,  with  power  to  understand  what 
heredity  and  circumstance  some  men  have  faced,  what  entice- 
ments they  have  met,  what  a  fight  they  have  really  waged 
even  when  they  may  have  seemed  to  fail,  can  tell  how  much 
they  are  worth. 

256 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  FORGIVENESS     [X-c] 

"What's  done  we  partly  may  compute, 
But  know  not  what's  resisted." 

Judgment  based  on  deeds  alone  can  never  truly  estimate  a 
man,  because  in  every  important  decision  of  our  lives  an  "un- 
published self"  finds  no  expression  in  our  outivard  act.  Duty 
is  not  always  clear;  at  times  it  seems  a  labyrinth  without  a 
clue.  Perplexed,  we  balance  in  long  deliberation  the  opposing 
reasons  for  this  act  or  that,  until,  forced  to  choose,  we  obtain 
only  a  majority  vote  for  the  decision.  Yet  that  uncertain 
majority  alone  is  published  in  our  deed;  man's  eyes  never  see 
the  unexpressed  protestant  minority  behind.  And  when  the 
choice  proves  wrong,  and  friends  are  grieved  and  enemies 
condemn  and  what  we  did  is  hateful  to  ourselves,  only  one 
who  knows  how  much  we  wanted  to  do  right,  and  who  ac- 
counts not  only  the  published  but  the  unpublished  self  can 
truly  estimate  our  worth.  Peter,  who  denied  his  Lord,  it  may 
be  because  he  wanted  the  privilege  of  being  near  him  at  the 
trial,  is  not  the  only  one  who  has  appealed  from  the  outward 
aspect  of  his  deed  to  the  inner  intention  of  his  heart:  "Lord, 
thou  knowest  all  things ;  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee" 
(John  21 :  17). 

Moreover,  even  when  we  choose  aright,  no  deed  can  ever 
gather  into  utterance  all  that  is  best  and  deepest  in  us.  A 
mother's  love  is  as  much  greater  than  any  word  she  speaks  or 
act  she  does,  as  the  sunshine  is  greater  than  the  focused  point 
where  in  a  burning  glass  we  gather  a  ray  of  it.  We  are  in- 
finitely more  than  words  can  utter  or  deeds  express.  No  ade- 
quate judgment,  therefore,  can  rest  on  deeds  alone.  A  ma- 
chine may  be  estimated  by  its  output,  but  a  man  is  too  subtle 
and  profound,  his  motives  and  purposes  too  inexpressible,  his 
temptations  and  inward  struggles  too  intimate  and  unrevealed, 
his  possibilities  too  great  to  be  roughly  estimated  by  his  acts 
alone. 

"Not  on  the  vulgar  mass 

Called  'work'  must  sentence  pass, 
Things  done,  that  took  the  eye  and  had  the  price ; 

O'er  which,  from  level  stand, 

The  low  world  laid  its  hand, 
Found  straightway  to  its  mind,  could  value  in  a  trice : 

257 


[X-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

But  all,  the  world's  coarse  thumb 

And  finger  failed  to  plumb, 
So  passed  in  making  up  the  main  account; 

All  instincts  immature, 

All  purposes  unsure, 
That  weighed  not  as  his  work,  yet  swelled  the  man's  amount: 

Thoughts  hardly  to  be  packed 

Into  a  narrow  act, 
Fancies  that  broke  through  language  and  escaped; 

All  I  could  never  be, 

All,  men  ignored  in  me, 
This,  I  was  worth  to  God,  whose  wheel  the  pitcher  shaped." 


If,  however,  we  are  to  understand  the  Christian's  meaning 
when  he  speaks  of  being  saved  by  faith  (Rom.  3:28;  5:1; 
Gal.  3:  24),  we  need  to  see  not  only  that  men  are  worth  more 
than  they  do,  but  as  well  that  they  are  worth  more  than  they 
are.  Some  things  always  start  large  and  grow  small ;  some 
things  always  start  small  and  grow  large;  but  a  man  may 
do  either,  and  his  value  is  determined  not  so  much  by  the 
position  he  is  in,  as  it  is  by  the  direction  in  which  he  is  mov- 
ing. Even  of  stocks  upon  the  market  in  their  rise  and  fall  this 
truth  is  clear.  The  figure  at  which  a  stock  is  quoted  is  im- 
portant, but  the  meaning  of  that  figure  cannot  be  understood 
unless  one  knows  whether  it  was  reached  on  the  way  up  or 
the  way  down.  How  much  more  is  any  static  judgment  of  a 
man  impossible !  One  starts  at  the  summit,  with  endow- 
ments and  opportunities  that  elevate  him  far  above  his  fellows, 
and  frittering  away  his  chance,  drifts  down.  Another,  be- 
ginning at  the  bottom,  by  dint  of  resolute  endeavor  climbs 
upward,  achieving  character  in  the  face  of  odds  before  which 
ordinary  men  succumb.  Somewhere  these  two  men  will  pass, 
and,  statically  judged,  will  be  of  equal  worth.  But  one  is 
drifting  down;  one  climbing  up.  The  innermost  secret  -of 
their  spiritual  value  lies  in  that  hidden  fact.  When,  there- 
fore, one  would  judge  a  man,  he  must  pierce  behind  the  deeds 
that  he  can  see,  behind  the  present  quality  that  he  can  esti- 
mate, back  to  the  thing  the  man  has  set  his  heart  upon,  to  the 
direction  of  his  life,  to  the  ideal  which  masters  him — that  is, 

258 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  FORGIVENESS     [X-c] 

to  his  faith.  There  lies  the  potential  future  of  the  man,  his 
ultimate  worth,  the  seed  of  his  coming  fruit.  If  one  has  eyes 
to  see  what  that  faith  is,  he  knows  the  man  and  what  the  man 
is  bound  to  be. 

When,  therefore,  men  set  their  hearts  on  Christ,  lay  hold  on 
him  by  faith  as  life's  Master  and  its  goal,  that  faith  opens 
the  door  to  God's  forgiveness.  In  Augustine's  luminous 
phrase,  "The  Christian  already  has  in  Christ  what  he  hopes 
for  in  himself."  He  is  Christ's  brother  in  the  filial  life  with 
God,  young,  immature,  undeveloped — but  the  issue  of  that 
life  is  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  Christ's  fulness.  God 
does  not  demand  the  end  when  only  the  beginning  is  possible, 
does  not  scorn  the  dawn  because  it  is  not  noon.  He  wel- 
comes the  first  movement  of  man's  spirit  toward  him,  not  for 
the  fruit  which  yet  is  unmatured,  but  for  the  seed  which  still 
is  in  the  germ ;  he  takes  the  will  for  the  deed,  because  the 
will  is  earnest;  he  sees  the  journey's  end  in  Christlike  char- 
acter, when  at  the  road's  beginning  the  pilgrim  takes  the  first 
step  by  faith.  There  is  no  fiction  here ;  God  ought  to  forgive 
and  welcome  such  a  man.  All  good  parents  act  so  toward 
their  children.  This  divine  grace  corresponds  with  truth,  for 
a  man  is  worth  the  central,  dominant  faith,  that  determines 
life's  direction  and  decides  its  goal.  And  the  Gospel  that  God 
so  deals  with  man,  announced  in  the  words  of  Jesus,  illus- 
trated in  his  life,  sealed  in  his  death,  has  been  a  boon  to  the 
race  that  puts  all  men  under  an  immeasurable  debt  to  Christ. 


VI 

This  method  of  judgment  which  all  good  men  use  with 
their  friends  and  families  has  been  often  disbelieved,  in  its 
Christian  formulations,  because  it  has  been  misrepresented 
and  misunderstood.  But  human  life,  far  outside  religious 
boundaries,  continually  illustrates  the  wisdom  and  righteous- 
ness of  so  judging  men  by  faith.  Roswell  Mclntyre  deserted 
during  the  Civil  War ;  he  was  caught,  court-martialled,  and 
condemned  to  death.  He  stood  with  no  defense  for  his  deed, 
no  just  complaint  against  the  penalty,  and  with  nothing  to 
plead  save  shame  for  his  act,  and  faith  that,  with  another 
chance,  he  could  play  the  man.  On  that,  the  last  recourse  of 
the  condemned,  President  Lincoln  pardoned  him. 

259 


[X-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

"EXECUTIVE    MANSION, 

Oct.  4,  1864. 

Upon  condition  that  Roswell  Mclntyre  of  Co.  E,  6i.h 
Reg't  of  New  York  Cavalry,  returns  to  his  Regiment  and 
faithfully  serves  out  his  term,  making  up  for  lost  time,  or  until 
otherwise  discharged,  he  is  fully  pardoned  for  any  supposed 
desertion  heretofore  committed,  and  this  paper  is  his  pass  to 
go  to  his  regiment.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 

Was  such  clemency  an  occasion  for  lax  character?  The 
answer  is  written  across  the  face  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  letter  in  the 
archives :  "Taken  from  the  body  of  R.  Mclntyre  at  the  Battle 
of  Five  Forks,  Va.,  1865."  Five  Forks  was  the  last  cavalry 
action  of  the  war ;  Mclntyre  went  through  to  the  finish. 

Any  one  who  knows  the  experience  of  being  forgiven  under- 
stands the  motives  that  so  remake  a  pardoned  deserter.  The 
relief  from  the  old  crushing  condemnation,  the  joy  of  being 
trusted  again  beyond  desert,  the  gratitude  that  makes  men 
rather  die  than  be  untrue  a  second  time,  the  unpayable  in- 
debtedness from  which  ambition  springs,  "whether  at  home 
or  absent,  to  be  well-pleasing  unto  him"  (II  Cor.  5:9) — this 
is  the  moral  consequence  of  being  pardoned.  Goodness  so  be- 
gotten reaches  deep  and  high,  has  in  it  conscious  joy  and  hope, 
feels  vividly  the  value  of  its  moral  victories,  possesses  great 
motives  for  sacrificial  service  in  the  world.  The  Apocalypse 
is  right.  There  is  a  song  in  heaven  that  angels  cannot  sing. 
Only  men  like  Mclntyre  will  know  how  to  sing  it. 

The  vital  and  transforming  faith  that  saves  is  always  better 
presented  in  a  story  than  in  an  argument,  and  in  the  Scrip- 
ture the  best  description  of  it  is  Jesus'  parable  of  the  Prodigal. 
As  the  Master  drew  that  portrait  of  life  in  the  far  country, 
all  the  watching  Pharisees  thought  that  such  a  boy  was  lost. 
The  Prodigal  himself  must  have  guessed  that  his  case  was 
hopeless.  His  friends,  his  character,  his  reputation,  his  will 
were  gone,  and  in  the  inner  court-room  of  his  soul  with  mad- 
dening iteration  he  heard  sentence  passed,  Guilty.  Only 
one  hope  remained.  If  he  was  unspoiled  enough  by  the  far 
country's  pitiless  brutality  to  think  that  at  home  they  might 
bear  no  grudge,  might  find  forgiveness  possible,  might  offer 
him  another  chance  as  a  hired  servant,  if  he  could  think  that 
perhaps  his  father  even  -wanted  him  to  come  home,  then  there 
was  hope.  With  such  slender  faith  the  boy  turned  back  from 

260 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  FORGIVENESS     [X-c] 

the  far  country.  He  had  the  same  lack  of  character,  the  same 
weakened  will,  the  same  evil  habits.  Only  one  difference  had 
as  yet  been  wrought.  Before,  he  had  been  facing  toward 
swine,  now  he  was  facing  toward  home.  The  direction  of  his 
life  was  changed  by  faith.  And  when  the  father  saw  him, 
homeward  bound,  "while  he  U'as  yet  afar  off,"  forgiveness 
welcomed  him.  Xo  pardon  could  unload  from  the  lad's  life  all 
the  fearful  consequences  of  his  sin.  As  long  as  he  lived,  the 
scars  on  health,  repute,  and  usefulness  were  there.  But  for- 
giveness could  take  the  sin  away  as  a  barrier  to  personal 
friendship  with  the  father;  the  old  relationships  of  mutual 
confidence,  helpfulness,  and  love  could  be  restored;  the  glori- 
ous chance  could  be  bestowed  of  fighting  through  the  battle 
for  character,  not  hopelessly  in  the  far  country,  but  victori- 
ously at  home. 

One  of  the  chief  glories  of  the  Gospel  is  that  it  has  so 
reclaimed  the  waste  of  humanity,  made  sons  of  Prodigals  and 
patriots  of  Mclntyres.  Its  Pauls  were  persecutors,  its  Augus- 
tines  the  slaves  of  lust,  and  its  rank  and  file  men  and  women 
to  whom  Christ's  message  has  meant  forgiveness,  reinstate- 
ment, a  new  chance,  and  boundless  hope.  Scientific  business 
conserves  its  waste  and  makes  invaluable  by-products  from 
what  once  was  slag;  but  Christ  has  been  the  conserver  of 
mankind.  The  lost  and  sick  have  been  returned  to  sanity  and 
wholesomeness  and  service ;  humanity  has  been  enriched  be- 
yond computation,  with  Bunyans  and  Coughs  and  Jerry  Mc- 
Auleys.  Tolstoi's  simple  confession  in  "My  Religion"  is 
typical  of  multitudes :  "Five  years  ago  I  came  to  believe  in 
Christ's  teaching,  and  my  life  suddenly  became  changed:  I 
ceased  desiring  what  I  had  wished  before,  and  began  to  desire 
what  I  had  not  wished  before.  What  formerly  had  seemed 
good  to  me  appeared  bad,  and  what  had  seemed  bad  appeared 
good.  .  .  .  The  direction  of  my  life,  my  desires  became 
different :  what  was  good  and  bad  changed  places."  Tolstoi 
had  indulged,  as  he  acknowledges,  in  every  form  of  unmen- 
tionable vice  practiced  in  Russia ;  and  yet  forgiven,  reinstated, 
transformed,  he  was  carried  to  his  burial  by  innumerable 
Russian  peasants  with  banners  flying.  Where  Christ's  influ- 
ence has  vitally  come,  the  loss  and  wreck  and  flotsam  of  the 
moral  world  have  been  so  reclaimed  to  character  and  power. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  a  few  desolate  sand 
lagoons  lay  off  the  Paduan  coast  of  Italy.  There  the  wild 

261 


[X-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH         i 

fowl  made  their  nests;  the  lonely  skiffs  of  fishermen  threaded 
the  reedy  channels ;  the  storms  washed  the  shifting  and  uncer- 
tain sands.  And  possibly  to  this  day  the  lagoons  would  have 
been  thus  barren  and  deserted,  had  not  the  Huns  swept  down 
on  Italy.  The  Huns  made  the  building  of  Venice  necessary. 
They  did  not  intend  so  fair  a  consequence  of  their  terrific 
onslaughts.  Their  thoughts  were  on  death  and  pillage.  But 
because  they  came,  the  Italians  fled  to  the  lagoons,  built  there, 
behind  the  barricade  of  restless  waters,  their  gleaming  city, 
developed  there  the  commerce  that  combed  the  world,  built 
the  Doge's  palace  as  the  abode  of  justice,  and  raised  St. 
Mark's  in  praise  of  God.  Venice  was  the  city  of  Salvation ; 
it  rose  resplendent  because  the  Huns  had  come.  So  Christ 
turns  the  ruin  of  sin  to  victory,  and  builds  in  human  life 
character,  recovered  and  triumphant.  If  his  Gospel  can  have 
its  way,  a  spiritual  Venice  will  arise  to  make  the  onslaught 
of  the  moral  Huns  an  evil  with  a  glorious  issue.  What 
wonder  that  inexpressible  devotion  has  been  felt  for  him  by 
all  his  people? 


262 


CHAPTER  XI 

Faith  in  Christ  the  Savior:  Power 

DAILY  READINGS 

As  we  saw  in  the  last  week's  study,  Christian  faith  has 
always  centered  around  the  person  of  Jesus  himself.  This 
week  let  us  consider  some  testimonies  from  the  New  Testa- 
ment as  to  the  meaning  and  effect  of  this  definitely  Christian 
faith. 

Eleventh  Week,  First  Day 

It  must  be  clear  to  any  observing  mind  that  the  world  does 
not  suffer  from  lack  of  faith.  There  is  faith  in  plenty;  every- 
body is  exercising  it  on  some  object.  In  the  Bible  we  read 
of  folk  who  "trust  in  vanity"  (Isa.  59:  4),  who  "trust  in 
lying  words"  (Jer.  7:  4),  or  "in  the  abundance  of  riches" 
(Psalm  52:  7);  and  the  Master  exclaims  over  the  difficulty 
which  those  who  "trust  in  riches"  have  when  they  try  to 
enter  the  Kingdom  of  God  (Mark  10:  24).  Faith,  then,  is 
a  necessary  faculty  of  the  soul :  the  power  by  which  we  com- 
mit ourselves  to  any  object  that  wins  our  devotion  and  com- 
mands our  allegiance.  No  man  avoids  its  use,  and  men  differ 
only  in  the  objects  toward 'which  their  faith  is  directed.  Of 
all  the  tragedies  caused  by  the  misuse  of  human  powers,  none 
is  more  frequent  and  disastrous  than  the  ruin  that  follows 
the  misuse  of  faith.  With  this  necessary  and  powerful  faculty 
in  our  possession,  capable  of  use  on  things  high  or  low,  to 
what  determination  can  a  man  more  reasonably  set  himself 
than  this? — since  I  must  and  do  use  faith  on  something,  I 
li'ill  choose  the  highest.  It  is  with  such  a  rational  and  worthy 
choice  that  the  Christian  turns  to  Jesus.  He  is  the  best  we 
know ;  we  will  direct  our  faith  toward  him.  This  does  not 
mean  that  in  the  end  our  faith  does  not  rest  on  God ;  it 
does,  for  Jesus  is  the  Way,  the  Door,  as  he  said,  and  faith 
in  him  moves  up  through  him  to  the  One  who  sent  him.  As 
Paul  put  it,  "Such  confidence  have  we  through  Christ  to  God- 

263 


[XI-2]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

ward"  (II  Cor.  3:4).  But  faith  in  Jesus  is  the  most  vivid, 
true,  and  compelling  way  we  have  of  committing  ourselves 
to  the  highest  and  best  we  know.  In  the  light  of  this  truth, 
we  can  understand  why  John  calls  such  faith  the  supreme 
"work"  which  God  demands  of  us. 

Work  not  for  the  food  which  perisheth,  but  for  the 
food  which  abideth  unto  eternal  life,  which  the  Son  of 
man  shall  give  unto  you:  for(him  the  Father,  even  God, 
hath  sealed.  They  said  therefore  unto  him,  What  must 
we  do,  that  we  may  work  the  works  of  God?  Jesus  an- 
swered and  said  unto  them,  This  is  the  work  of  God,  that 
ye  believe  on  him  whom  he  hath  sent. — John  6:  27-29. 

Gracious  Father!  Thou  hast  revealed  Thyself  gloriously 
in  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  Thy  love.  In  Him  we  have  found 
Thee,  or  rather,  are  found  of  Thee.  By  His  life,  by  His 
words  and  deeds,  by  His  trials  and  sufferings,  we  are  cleansed 
from  sin  and  rise  into  holiness.  For  in  Him  Thou  hast  made 
disclosure  of  Thine  inmost  being  and  art  drawing  us  into 
fellowship  with  Thy  life.  As  we  stand  beneath  His  Cross, 
or  pass  with  Him  into  the  Garden  of  His  Agony,  it  is  Thy 
heart  that  we  see  unveiled,  it  is  the  passion  of  Thy  love  yearn- 
ing over  the  sinful,  the  wandering,  seeking  that  it  may  save 
them.  No  man  hath  seen  Thee  at  any  time,  but  out  from 
the  unknown  has  come  the  Son  of  Man  to  declare  Thee.  And 
now  we  know  Thy  name.  When  we  call  Thee  Father,  the 
mysteries  of  existence  arc  not  so  terrible,  our  burdens  weigh 
less  heavily  upon  us,  our  sorrows  are  touched  with  joy.  Thy 
Son  has  brought  the  comfort  that  we  need,  the  comfort  of 
knowing  that  in  all  our  afflictions  Thou  art  afflicted,  that  in 
Thy  grief  our  lesser  griefs  are  all  contained.  Let  the  light 
which  shines  in  His  face,  shine  into  our  hearts,  to  give  us  the 
knowledge  of  Thy  glory,  to  scatter  the  darkness  of  fear,  of 
wrong,  of  remorse,  of  foreboding,  and  to  constrain  our  lives 
to  finer  issues  of  peace  and  power  and  spiritual  service.  And 
this  prayer  we  offer  in  Christ's  name.  Amen. — Samuel  Mc- 
Comb. 

Eleventh  Week,  Second  Day 

The  New  Testament  clearly  reveals  the  experience  that  for- 
giveness comes  in  answer  to  such  self-committing  faith  in 
Christ  as  we  spoke  of  yesterday. 

264 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  I'Oll'liK  [XI-2] 

And  he  said  unto  her,  Thy  sins  are  forgiven.  And  they 
that  sat  at  meat  with  him  began  to  say  within  themselves, 
Who  is  this  that  even  forgiveth  sins?  And  he  said  unto 
the  woman,  Thy  faith  hath  saved  thee;  go  in  peace. — 
Luke  7:  48-50. 

In  popular  thought  forgiveness  is  often  shallowly  con- 
ceived. It  is  thought  to  be  an  easy  agreement  to  forget  of- 
fense, a  good-natured  waving  aside  of  injuries  committed  as 
though  the  evil  done  were  of  no  consequence.  But  forgive- 
ness is  really  a  most  profound  and  searching  experience;  and 
it  takes  two  persons,  each  sacrificially  desirous  of  achieving 
it.  before  it  can  be  perfected.  In  the  pardoner,  the  passion 
for  saviorhood  must  submerge  all  disgust  at  the  sin  in  love 
for  the  sinner ;  and  in  the  pardoned,  desire  for  a  new  life 
must  create  sacrificial  willingness  to  hate  and  forsake  the 
evil  and  humbly  accept  a  new  chance.  It  follows,  therefore, 
that  no  one  can  forgive  another,  no  matter  how  willing  he 
may  be  to  do  so,  unless  the  recipient  fulfils  the  conditions  that 
make  pardon  possible.  Forgiveness  is  a  mutual  operation; 
no  forgetting  or  good  will  on  the  part  of  one  person  is  for- 
giveness at  all ;  and  the  attitude  in  the  forgiven  man  that 
makes  the  reception  of  pardon  possible  is  negatively  peni- 
tence and  positively  faith.  Any  experience  of  human  forgive- 
ness reveals  that  the  offender  must  detest  his  sin  and  turn 
from  it  in  trust  and  self-commitment  to  claim  the  mercy  and 
choose  the  ideals  of  the  one  whom  he  has  wronged.  That 
God  in  Christ  is  willing  to  forgive  is  the  Christian  Gospel; 
and  if  we  go  unforgiven  it  is  for  lack  of  faith.  That  is  the 
hand  which  grasps  the  proffered  pardon. 

Almighty  God,  whose  salvation  is  ever  nigh  to  them  tliat 
seek  Thee,  we  think  of  our  little  lives,  of  their  wayn'ard 
ways,  and  we  remember  Thee  and  are  troubled.  Our  days 
pass  from  us  and  ice  are  heated  with  strifes,  and  troubled 
and  restless,  with  mean  temptations  and  fugitive  desires.  We 
spend  our  years  in  much  carelessness,  and  too  seldom  do 
we  think  of  the  greatness  of  our  trust  and  the  wonder  and 
mystery  of  our  being.  We  arc  -vexed  zcith  vain  dreams  and 
trivial  desires.  W c  live  our  days  immersed  in  petty  passions. 
We  strain  after  poor  uncertainties.  We  pursue  the  shadows 
of  this  passing  life  and  continually  are  we  visited  by  our  own 
self-contempt  and  bitterness.  We  have  known  the  better 

265 


[XI-3]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

and  have  chosen  the  worse.  We  have  felt  the  glory  and  power 
of  a  higher  life  and  yet  have  surrendered  to  ignoble  tempta- 
tions and  to  satisfactions  that  end  with  the  hour. 

Almighty  Father,  of  Thy  goodness  do  Thou  save  our  lives, 
so  smitten  -with  passion,  from  the  failure  and  misery  that  else 
must  come  to  us.  Be  with  us  in  our  hours  of  self-communion, 
and  inspire  us  with' good  purpose  and  service  to  Thee.  Be 
with  us  when  heart  and  flesh  faint,  and  there  seems  no  help 
or  safety  near  us.  Be  with  us  when  we  arc  carried  into  the 
dry  and  lonely  places,  seeking  a  rest  that  is  not  in  them. 
Sustain  us,  we  beseech  Thee,  under  the  burden  of  our  many 
errors  and  failures.  From  the  confused  aims  and  purposes 
of  our  lives  may  there  be  brought  forth,  by  the  aid  of  Thy 
Spirit,  and  the  teaching  and  discipline  of  life,  lives  constant 
and  assured  in  service  and  obedience  to  Thee.  Amen. — John 
Hunter. 

Eleventh  Week,  Third  Day 

It  is  clear  in  the  New  Testament  that  all  the  free  move- 
ments of  divine  help  depend  on  the  presence  of  man's  faith. 
Words  like  these  are  continually  on  the  lips  of  Jesus :  "Be 
of  good  cheer;  thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole"  (Matt.  9: 
22)  ;  "According  to  your  faith  be  it  done  unto  you"  (Matt. 
9 :  29)  ;  "Great  is  thy  faith :  be  it  done  unto  thee  even  as  thou 
wilt"  (Matt.  15:  28).  Human  life  as  a  whole  confirms  the 
truth  which  such  words  suggest :  Man's  faith  is  always  the 
limit  of  his  blessing;  he  never  obtains  more  than  he  believes 
in.  Men  live  in  a  world  of  unappropriated  truth  and  unused 
power ;  and  the  blessings  of  truth  and  power  can  be  reached 
only  by  ventures  of  faith.  Even  electricity  withholds  its  serv- 
ice from  a  man  who,  like  Abdul  Hamid,  has  not  faith  enough 
to  try.  In  personal  relationships  this  fact  becomes  even  more 
clear.  Whatever  gifts  of  good  will  may  be  waiting  in  the 
heart  of  any  man,  we  are  shut  out  from  them  forever,  unless 
we  have  the  grace  of  faith  in  the  man  and  open-hearted  self- 
commitment  to  him.  As  the  Christian  Gospel  sees  man's  case, 
the  central  tragedy  lies  here :  that  God  in  Christ  is  willing 
to  do  so  much  more  in  and  for  and  through  us  than  we  have 
faith  enough  to  let  him  do.  Our  unbelief  is  not  a  matter  of 
theoretical  concern  alone ;  it  practically  disables  God,  it  handi- 
caps his  operation  in  the  world,  it  is  an  "evil  heart  of  unbe- 

266 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  POWER          [XI-4] 

lief,  in  falling  away  from  the  living  God"  (Heb.  3:  12).  The 
divine  will  is  forced  to  wait  upon  the  lagging  faith  of  man. 
How  often  the  Master  exclaimed,  "O  ye  of  little  faith!" 
(Matt.  6:30;  8:  26).  And  the  reason  for  his  lament  was  emi- 
nently practical. 

And  coming  into  his  own  country  he  taught  them  in 
their  synagogue,  insomuch  that  they  were  astonished,  and 
said,  Whence  hath  this  man  this  wisdom,  and  these  mighty 
works?  Is  not  this  the  carpenter's  son?  is  not  his  mother 
called  Mary?  and  his  brethren,  James,  and  Joseph,  and 
Simon,  and  Judas?  And  his  sisters,  are  they  not  all  with  us? 
Whence  then  hath  this  man  all  these  things?  And  they 
were  offended  in  him.'  But  Jesus  said  unto  them,  A 
prophet  is  not  without  honor,  save  in  his  own  country, 
and  in  his  own  house.  And  he  did  not  many  mighty 
works  there  because  of  their  unbelief. — Matt.  13:  54-58. 

Almighty  God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  we  desire  to  come  to 
Thee  in  all  humility  and  sincerity.  We  are  sinful;  pardon 
Thou  us.  We  are  ignorant;  enlighten  Thou  our  darkness. 
U\-  are  weak;  inspire  us  with  strength.  In  these  times  of 
doubt,  uncertainty,  and  trial,  may  we  ever  feel  conscious  of 
Thine  everlasting  light.  Soul  of  our  soul!  Inmost  Light  of 
truth!  Manifest  Thyself  unto  us  amid  all  shadows.  Guide 
us  in  faith,  hope,  and  love,  until  the  perfect  day  shall  dawn, 
and  we  shall  know  as  we  are  known. 

Almighty  God,  teach  us,  we  pray  Thee,  by  blessed  experi- 
ence, to  apprehend  what  was  meant  of  old  when  Jesus  Christ 
was  called  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,  for  we  stand  in 
need  of  salvation  from  sin,  from  doubt,  from  weakness,  from, 
craven  fear;  we  cannot  save  ourselves;  we  are  creatures  of 
a  day,  short-sighted,  and  too  often  driven  about  by  every  wind 
of  passion  and  opinion.  We  need  to  be  stayed  upon  a  higher 
strength.  We  need  to  lay  hold  of  Thee.  Manifest  Thyself 
unto  us,  our  Father,  as  the  Saviour  of  our  souls,  and  deliver 
us  from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the  glorious  liberty 
of  the  children  of  God.  Amen. — John  Hunter. 

Eleventh  Week,  Fourth  Day 

Not  only  is  man's  power  to  appropriate  the  divine  blessing 
dependent  on  faith ;  in  the  experience  of  the  New  Testament 
man's  power  of  achievement  has  the  same  source. 

267 


[XI-4]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

Then  came  the  disciples  to  Jesus  apart,  and  said,  Why 
could  not  we  cast  it  out?  And  he  saith  unto  them,  Be- 
cause of  your  little  faith:  for  verily  I  say  unto  you,  If 
ye  have  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  ye  shall  say 
unto  this  mountain,  Remove  hence  to  yonder  place;  and 
it  shall  remove ;  and  nothing  shall  be  impossible  unto  you. 
— Matt.  17:  19,  20. 

Mountains  are  symbols  of  difficulty,  and  the  Master's  af- 
firmation here  that  faith  alone  can  remove  them  is  clearly 
confirmed  in  human  experience.  It  may  seem  at  times  as 
though  faith,  compared  with  the  obstacles,  were  like  a  minute 
mustard  seed  before  the  ranges  of  Lebanon,  but  faith  can 
overcome  even  that  disproportion  in  size.  Great  leaders  al- 
ways must  have  such  confidence.  Listen  to  Mazzini :  "The 
people  lack  faith  .  .  .  the  faith  that  arouses  the  multitudes, 
faith  in  their  own  destiny,  in  their  own  mission,  and  in  the 
mission  of  the  epoch ;  the  faith  that  combats  and  prays ;  the 
faith  that  enlightens  and  bids  men  advance  fearlessly  in  the 
ways  of  God  and  humanity,  with  the  sword  of  the  people 
in  their  hand,  the  religion  of  the  people  in  their  heart,  and 
the  future  of  the  people  in  their  soul."  In  any  great  move- 
ment for  human  good,  the  ultimate  and  deciding  question 
always  is :  How  many  people  can  be  found  who  have  faith 
enough  to  believe  in  the  cause  and  its  triumph  ?  When  enough 
folk  have  faith,  any  campaign  for  human  welfare  can  be  won. 
Without  faith  men  "collapse  into  a  yielding  mass  of  plaintive- 
ness  and  fear";  with  faith  they  move  mountains.  And  when 
men  have  faith  in  Christ  as  God's  Revealor — faith,  not  formal 
and  abstract,  but  real  and  vital — they  begin  to  feel  about  the 
word  "impossible"  as  Mirabeau  did,  "Never  mention  to  me 
again  that  blockhead  of  a  word !" 

0  God,  our  Father,  our  souls  are  made  sick  by  the  sight 
of  hunger  and  want  and  nakedness;  of  little  children  bearing 
on  their  bent  backs  the  burden  of  the  world's  work;  of 
motherhood  drawn  under  the  grinding  wheels  of  modern 
industry;  and  of  overburdened  manhood,  with  empty  hands, 
stumbling  and  falling. 

Help  us  to  understand  that  it  is  not  Thy  purpose  to  do 
away  with  life's  struggle,  but  that  Thou  desirest  us  to  make 
the  conditions  of  that  struggle  just  and  its  results  fair. 

Enable  us  to  know  that  we  may  bring  this  to  pass  only 
268 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  POWER          [XI-s] 

through  lore  and  sympathy  and  understanding;  only  as  we 
realize  that  all  are  alike  Thy  children — the  rich  and  the  poor, 
the  strong  and  the  weak,  the  fortunate  and  the  unfortunate. 
And  so,  our  Father,  give  us  an  ever-truer  sense  of  human 
sisterhood;  that  witli  patience  and  steadfastness  we  may  do 
our  part  in  ending  the  injustice  that  is  in  the  land,  so  that 
all  may  rejoice  in  the  fruits  cf  their  toil  and  be  glad  in  Thy 
sunshine. 

Keep  us  in  hope  and  courage  even  amid  the  easiness  of 
the  undertaking  and  the  slowness  of  the  progress,  and  sus- 
tain us  with  the  knowledge  that  our  times  are  in  Thy  hand. 
Amen. — Helen  Ring  Robinson. 

Eleventh  Week,  Fifth  Day 

Faith  in  Christ  has  always  been  consummated,  in  the  ex- 
perience to  which  the  New  Testament  introduces  us,  in  an 
inward  transformation  of  life. 

I  have  been  crucified  with  Christ;  and  it  is  no  longer  I 
that  live,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me:  and  that  life  which  I 
now  live  in  the  flesh  I  live  in  faith,  the  faith  which  is  in 
the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  up  for 
me. — Gal.  2:  20. 

Such  conversion  of  life  is  the  normal  result  of  a  vital  fel- 
lowship whose  bond  is  faith.  For  one  thing,  a  man  at  once 
begins  to  care  a  great  deal  more  about  his  own  quality  when 
he  believes  in  Christ  and  in  Christ's  love.  "What  a  King 
stoops  to  pick  up  from  the  mire  cannot  be  a  brass  farthing, 
but  must  be  a  pearl  of  great  price."  To  be  loved  by  anyone 
is  to  enter  into  a  new  estimate  of  one's  possible  value ;  to  be 
loved  by  God  in  Christ  is  to  come  into  an  experience  where 
our  possible  value  makes  us  alike  ashamed  of  what  we  are 
and  jubilant  over  what  we  may  become.  We  begin  saying 
with  Irenaeus,  "Jesus  Christ  became  what  we  are  that  he 
might  make  us  what  he  is."  And  then,  faith,  ripening  into 
fellowship,  opening  the  life  sensitively  to  the  influence  of 
the  friend,  issues  in  a  character  infused  by  the  friend's  charac- 
ter. He  lives  in  us.  Such  transformation  of  life  does  not 
happen  in  a  moment ;  it  requires  more  than  instantaneous 
exposure  to  take  the  Lord's  picture  on  a  human  heart ;  but 
time-exposure  will  do  it,  and  "Christ  in  us"  be  alike  our  hope 
of  glory  and  our  secret  of  influence. 

269 


[XI-6]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

O  Father  Eternal,  we  thank  Thee  for  the  new  and  living 
way  into  Thy  presence  made  for  us  in  Christ;  the  way  of 
trust,  sincerity,  and  sacrifice.  Beneath  His  cross  we  would 
take  our  stand,  in  communion  with  His  Spirit  would  we  pray, 
in  fellowship  with  the  whole  Church  of  Christ  we  would 
seek  to  know  Thy  mind  and  will. 

We  desire  to  know  all  the  fulness  of  Christ,  to  appropriate 
His  unsearchable  riches,  to  feed  on  His  humanity  whereby 
Thou  hast  become  to  us  the  bread  of  our  inmost  souls  and 
the  wine  of  life,  to  become  partakers  of  Thy  nature,  share 
Thy  glory,  and  become  one  with  Thee  through  Him. 

Give  unto  us  fellowship  with  His  sufferings  and  insight  into 
the  mystery  of  His  cross,  so  that  we  may  be  indeed  crucified 
with  Him,  be  raised  to  newness  of  life,  and  be  hidden  with 
Christ  in  Thee. 

We  desire  to  make  thankful  offering  of  ourselves  as  mem- 
bers of  the  body  of  Christ;  in  union  with  all  the  members 
may  we  obey  our  unseen  Head,  so  that  the  Body  may  be 
undivided,  and  Thy  love,  and  healing  power,  and  very  Self 
may  be  incarnate  on  the  earth  in  one  Holy  Universal  Church. 
Amen. — W.  E.  Orchard. 

Eleventh  Week,  Sixth  Day 

With  faith  in  Christ  so  seen  as  the  secret  of  divine  for- 
giveness and  assistance,  of  achieving  power  and  inward 
transformation,  there  can  be  little  surprise  at  the  solicitude 
which  the  New  Testament  shows  concerning  the  disciples' 
faith.  We  find  this  urgent  interest  in  Paul : 

Wherefore  when  we  could  no  longer  forbear,  we  thought 
it  good  to  be  left  behind  at  Athens  alone;  and  sent 
Timothy,  our  brother  and  God's  minister  in  the  gospel 
of  Christ,  to  establish  you,  and  to  comfort  you  concern- 
ing your  faith;  .  .  .  night  and  day  praying  exceedingly 
that  we  may  see  your  face,  and  may  perfect  that  which 
is  lacking  in  your  faith. — I  Thess.  3:  i,  2,  10. 

We  are  bound  to  give  thanks  to  God  always  for  you, 
brethren,  even  as  it  is  meet,  for  that  your  faith  groweth 
exceedingly,  and  the  love  of  each  one  of  you  all  toward 
one  another  aboundeth. — II  Thess.  i:  3. 

And  one  of  the  most  appealing  revelations   of  Jesus'  habit 
in  prayer  concerns  his  supplication  for  Peter's  faith. 

270 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  POWER          [XI-;] 

Simon,  Simon,  behold,  Satan  asked  to  have  you,  that 
he  might  sift  you  as  wheat:  but  I  made  supplication  for 
thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not;  and  do  thou,  when  once  thou 
hast  turned  again,  establish  thy  brethren. — Luke  22:  31,  32. 

In  all  such  passages  one  feels  at  once  that  faith  is  used, 
as  Paul  uses  it  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  First  Corinthians 
— a  comrade  and  ally  of  hope  and  love.  It  is  not  a  matter  of 
dogma  and  does  not  move  in  the  realm  of  opinion,  although 
ideas  of  the  first  magnitude  may  be  involved  in  it.  It  is  pri- 
marily a  bond  of  divine  fellowship,  which  at  once  keeps  the 
life  receptive  to  all  that  God  would  do  for  the  man  and 
moves  the  man  to  do  all  that  he  should  for  God.  If  that 
fails,  even  Peter  would  fall  in  ruins,  and  the  expression  is 
none  too  strong,  when  in  I  Timothy  the  failure  of  such  vital 
faith  is  described  as  a  "shipwreck"  (I  Tim.  i:  19).  But 
when  by  faith  the  consciousness  of  God  has  grown  clear,  and 
alliance  with  him  is  so  real  that  we  stop  arguing  about  it 
and  begin  counting  on  it  in  daily  living,  the  increment  of 
power  and  confidence  and  stability  which  a  man  may  win 
is  quite  incalculable. 

O  Thou  plenteous  Source  of  every  good  and  perfect  gift, 
shed  abroad  the  cheering  light  of  Thy  seven-fold  grace  over 
our  hearts.  Yea,  Spirit  of  love  and  gentleness,  we  most 
humbly  implore  Thy  assistance.  Thou  knowest  our  faults, 
our  failings,  our  necessities,  the  dulness  of  our  understand- 
ing, the  waywardness  of  our  affections,  the  perverseness  of 
our  will.  When,  therefore,  we  neglect  to  practice  what  we 
know,  visit  us,  we  beseech  Thee,  with  Thy  grace,  enlighten  our 
minds,  rectify  our  desires,  correct  our  wanderings,  and  pardon 
our  omissions,  so  that  by  Thy  guidance  we  may  be  preserved 
from  making  shipwreck  of  faith,  and  keep  a  good  conscience, 
and  may  at  length  be  landed  safe  in  the  haven  of  eternal 
rest;  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Amen. — Anselm,  1033. 

Eleventh  Week,  Seventh  Day 

Some  who  gladly  acknowledge  the  surprising  results  which 
faith  can  work  in  life,  do  not  see  any  great  importance  in 
the  object  to  which  faith  attaches  itself.  They  say  that  faith 
is  merely  a  psychological  attitude,  and  that  faith  in  one  thing 
does  as  well  as  faith  in  another.  Folk  are  healed,  they  point 

271 


[XI-;]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

out,  by  all  kinds  of  faith,  whether  directed  toward  fetishes, 
or  saints'  relics,  or  metaphysical  theories,  or  God  himself. 
It  is  the  faith,  they  say,  and  not  the  object,  which  does  the 
work.  There  is  a  modicum  of  truth  in  this.  Faith,  by  its 
very  power  to  organize  man's  faculties  and  give  them  definite 
*set  and  drive,  is  itself  a  master  force,  and  if  a  man  has  no 
interest  beyond  the  achievement  of  some  immediate  end, 
like  conquering  nervous  qualms  or  getting  strength  for  a 
special  task,  he  may  achieve  that  end  by  believing  in  almost 
anything,  provided  he  believes  hard  enough.  But  to  believe 
in  some  things  may  debauch  the  intelligence  and  lower  the 
moral  standards,  even  while  it  achieves  a  practical  end.  To 
win  power  for  a  business  task  by  believing  in  a  palm-reader's 
predictions  is  entirely  possible,  but  it  is  a  poor  bargain ;  a 
man  sells  out  his  intelligence  for  cash.  The  object  in  which 
a  man  believes  does  make  an  immense  difference  in  the  effect 
of  his  faith  on  his  mind  and  character.  An  African  savage 
may  gain  courage  for  an  ordeal  by  believing  in  his  fetish — 
but  how  immeasurable  is  the  abyss  between  the  meaning  of 
that  faith  for  the  whole"  of  life  and  the  meaning  of  a  Chris- 
tian's faith  in  God !  We  have  no  business,  for  the  sake  of 
immediate  gain,  to  allow  our  faith  to  rest  in  anything  lower 
than  the  highest. 

Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  according  to  his  great  mercy  begat  us  again  unto  a 
living  hope  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  from  the 
dead,  unto  an  inheritance  incorruptible,  and  undefiled,  and 
that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  heaven  for  you,  who 
by  the  power  of  God  are  guarded  through  faith  unto  a 
salvation  ready  to  be  revealed  in  the  last  time.  Wherein 
ye  greatly  rejoice,  though  now  for  a  little  while,  if  need 
be,  ye  have  been  put  to  grief  in  manifold  trials,  that  the 
proof  of  your  faith,  being  more  precious  than  gold  that 
perisheth  though  it  is  proved  by  fire,  may  be  found  unto 
praise  and  glory  and  honor  at  the  revelation  of  Jesus 
Christ:  whom  not  having  seen  ye  love;  on  whom,  though 
now  ye  see  him  not,  yet  believing,  ye  rejoice  greatly  with 
joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory:  receiving  the  end  of 
your  faith,  even  the  salvation  of  your  souls. — I  Peter  i: 
3-9- 

Gracious  Father  of  our  spirits,  in  the  stillness  of  this  wor- 
ship may  we  grow  more  sure  of  Thee,  who  art  often  closest 

272 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  POWER          [XI-c] 

to  us  when  tor  feel  Thou  hast  forsaken  us.  The  toil  and 
thought  of  daily  life  leave  us  little  time  to  think  of  Thee;  but 
may  the  silence  of  this  holy  place  make  us  aware  that  though 
we  may  forget  Thee,  Thou  dost  never  forget  us.  Perhaps 
we  have  grown  careless  in  contact  with  common  things,  duty 
has  lost  its  high  solemnities,  the  altar  fires  have  gone  untended, 
Thy  light  within  our  minds  has  been  distrusted  or  ignored. 
As  we  withdraw  awhile  from  all  without,  may  we  find  Thee 
anew  within,  until  thought  grows  reverent  again,  all  work 
is  hallowed,  and  faith  reconsecrates  all  common  things  as 
sacraments  of  love. 

If  pride  of  thought  and  careless  speculation  have  made  us 
doubtful  of  Thee,  recover  for  us  the  simplicity  that  under- 
stands Thou  art  never  surer  than  when  we  doubt  Thee,  that 
through  all  failures  of  faith  Thou  becomcst  clearer,  and  so 
makest  the  light  that  once  we  walked  by  seem  but  darkness. 
Help  us  then  to  rest  our  faith  on  the  knowledge  of  our  im- 
perfection, our  consciousness  of  ignorance,  our  sense  of  sin, 
and  see  in  them  shadows  cast  by  the  light  of  Thy  drawing 
near. 

If  Thy  purposes  have  crossed  our  own  and  Thy  will  has 
broken  ours,  enable  us  to  trust  the  wisdom  of  Thy  perfect 
lore  and  find  Thy  will  to  be  our  peace. 

So  lead  us  back  to  meet  Thee  where  we  may  have  missed 
Thee.  Amen. — \V.  E.  Orchard. 

COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 


The  forgiveness  which  the  Gospel  offers — reinstating  a  man 
in  the  personal  relationships  against  which  he  sinned,  and  giv- 
ing him  another  chance — opens  opportunity,  but  by  itself  it 
does  not  furnish  power.  The  saviorhood  of  Christ,  how- 
ever, so  far  from  failing  at  this  crucial  point,  makes  here  its 
chief  claim  to  preeminence.  However  one  may  explain  it,  the 
normal  quality  of  a  genuine  Christian  life  is  moral  energy. 
The  Gospel  not  alone  to  Paul,  but  to  all  generations  of  Christ's 
disciples,  had  been  "God's  saving  power  for  everyone  who  has 
faith"  (Rom.  i:  I6).1 

Faith  always  supplies  moral  dynamic.     Emerson's  challenge, 

1  Moffatt's  translation. 

273 


[XI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

"They  can  conquer  who  believe  they  can,"  is  easily  verified  in 
daily  life.  In  practical  business,  in  social  reform,  in  personal 
character,  no  more  common  or  fatal  barrier  to  success  exists 
than  disbelief  in  possibilities.  While  some  who  think  they 
can  when  they  cannot,  prove  the  rule  by  its  exception,  we  are 
sure  in  advance  that  one  who  believes  he  cannot,  has  lost  his 
battle  before  it  has  begun.  Granted  a  task  worth  doing,  suffi- 
cient strength  for  its  accomplishment,  and  motives  in  plenty 
to  make  success  desirable,  and  one  insinuating  enemy  can  spoil 
the  enterprise.  Let  the  subtle  fear  that  the  task  is  impossible 
obsess  the  thought,  paralyze  the  nerve,  and  no  hope  is  left. 
Like  chlorine  gas,  such  fear  defeats  us  before  we  have  be- 
gun to  fight  and  fills  our  trenches  with  asphyxiated  powers. 

Anyone  who  is  to  be  a  savior  to  mankind,  therefore,  must 
be  able  to  make  men  say,  "I  can."  That  Christ  has  had  that 
influence  on  men  is  the  commonplace  of  Christian  biography 
from  the  beginning  until  now.  "In  him  who  strengthens  me 
I  am  able  for  anything"  (Phil.  4:i3)2  is  a  word  of  Paul's 
which  the  best  Christian  experience  confirms.  It  does  not 
mean  that  men  can  do  what  they  will,  overriding  all  ob- 
stacles to  chosen  goals;  it  means  that  they  are  aware  of  re- 
sources in  reserve,  of  power  around  them  and  in  them,  so  that 
they  are  not  afraid  of  anything  which  they  may  face.  If  a 
duty  ought  to  be  done,  they  are  confident  that  they  can  do  it ; 
if  a  trouble  must  be  borne,  they  are  assured  that  they  can 
bear  "it. 

This  buoyant  faith  is  more  than  a  grace  of  temperament. 
In  Paul's  case,  for  example,  it  was  not  due  to  rugged  health, 
for  that  he  lacked;  it  was  not  the  easy  optimism  of  some  hap- 
piness cult,  for  he  was  a  persecuted  man,  bearing  in  his  body 
"the  marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus" ;  and  such  a  note  of  assured 
resource  as  we  just  have  quoted  did  not  come  from  the  hope- 
fulness of  fortunate  circumstance,  but  from  a  prison  where  he 
wore  a  chain.  Paul  himself  is  certain  that  his  sense  of  power 
springs  from  discipleship  to  Jesus.  And  when  one  turns  to  the 
gospels,  he  sees  that  whenever  the  Master  had  opportunity  to 
exert  to  the  full  his  influence  on  men,  some  such  result  as  here 
appears  in  Paul  is  evident.  A  contagious  personality  always 
enlarges  the  sense  of  possibilities  and  powers  in  other  men. 
A  man,  leaving  Trinity  Church,  where  he  had  heard  Phillips 
Brooks,  exclaimed,  "He  always  makes  me  feel  so  strong." 

2  Moffatt's  translation. 

274 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  POWER          [XI-c] 

It  was  said  that  one  could  not  stand  for  a  moment  with  Ed- 
mund Burke  under  an  archway,  to  let  a  shower  pass  by,  with- 
out emerging  a  greater  man.  Each  one  of  us  knows  folk  who 
so  impress  him.  We  go  into  their  presence,  weak,  self-pitiful; 
when  we  come  out,  the  horizons  are  broader,  the  possibilities 
have  enlarged,  there  is  more  in  us  than  we  had  suspected,  we 
are  convinced  that  we  can. 

To  a  degree  that  escapes  our  estimation  Jesus  exerted  that 
influence  on  men.  Napoleon  said  that  he  made  his  generals 
out  of  mud.  Out  of  what,  then,  did  the  Master  make  his 
apostles?  At  the  beginning,  Peter,  for  example,  is  protesting, 
''Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord,"  and  Jesus 
is  bending  over  him,  saying:  Come  after  me,  and  I  will  make 
you  a  fisher  of  men ;  if  you  will,  you  can.  After  months  of 
influence,  Peter,  still  shamed  and  weak,  is  pleading  his  love 
against  his  deed,  and  Jesus  is  saying:  Feed  my  sheep;  feed 
my  lambs ;  if  you  will,  you  can.  In  Jesus'  relationship  with 
his  disciple,  a  great  personality  stands  over  a  lesser  one,  by 
life  and  word  insistently  saying,  You  can,  until  power  is  vitally 
transmitted,  and  in  the  vacillating,  vehement  Simon  there 
emerges  rock-like,  stable  Peter. 

Throughout  the  Christian  centuries  nothing  has  been  more 
typical  than  this  of  the  Master's  influence  on  men.  He  has 
come  to  innumerable  sodden  lives,  held  slaves  to  tyrannous 
sin,  saying  in  the  hopelessness  of  bondage,  "I  cannot,"  and  he 
has  touched  them  with  his  contagious  confidence,  until  they 
rose  into  freedom,  saying,  "By  the  help  of  God,  I  can!"  He 
has  come  into  social  situations  where  ancient  evils,  long  en- 
trenched and  seemingly  invincible,  withstood  the  assault  of 
reformation,  and  he  has  put  inexhaustible  resource  into  his 
people,  until  they  said  with  an  old  reformer,  "Impossible?  If 
that  is  all  that  is  the  matter,  let  us  go  ahead!"  He  has  come 
to  his  Church,  reluctant  to  undertake  a  world-wide  mission, 
staggered  by  the  task's  magnitude,  and  he  has  made  men  pray 
with  life  and  not  alone  with  lip,  "Thy  Kingdom  come,  Thy 
will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven."  Wherever  the  influ- 
ence of  Christ  vitally  has  come,  the  horizons  of  possibility 
have  widened  and  the  sense  of  power  grown  inexhaustible. 

Such  influence  is  of  the  very  ^essence  of  saviorhood  and 
the  attitude  that  appropriates  it  is  soring  faith.  When  John 
B.  Gough,  desperately  enmeshed  in  habit,  faces  the  Chris- 
tian Gospel  of  release  one  easily  may  trace  his  changing  re- 


[XI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

sponse.  Dubious  at  first,  he  wants  to  believe  it  but  he  does  not 
dare.  He  wishes  it  were  true,  but  the  whole  logic  of  his  situa- 
tion, his  long  habit,  his  spoiled  reputation,  his  weakened  will, 
argue  against  the  possibility.  As  Augustine  said  about  his 
lust,  "The  worse  that  I  knew  so  well  had  more  power  over 
me  than  the  better  that  I  knew  not."  Still,  a  note  of  authority 
in  the  Gospel,  as  though  spoken  by  one  whose  power  to  per- 
form is  equal  to  the  thing  he  promises,  arrests  Cough's  mind, 
captures  his  imagination,  awakens  his  spirit's  deep  desire, 
until  at  last  the  Master's  call,  "You  can,"  is  answered  by  the 
human  cry,  "I  will,"  and  the  man  moves  out  into  new  possi- 
bilities, new  powers,  and  increasing  liberty.  That  is  salvation. 
It  is  no  formal  status  decreed  by  legal  enactment,  as  though 
a  judge  technically  acquitted  a  prisoner.  It  is  new  life,  inward 
liberation  from  old  habits,  apprehensions,  anxieties,  and  fears. 
It  lifts  horizons,  consumes  impossibilities,  and  at  the  center  of 
life  sets  the  stirring  conviction  that  what  ought  to  be  done 
can  be  done. 

Christians  who  are  accustomed  lightly  to  assert  that  they  are 
saved  need  specially  to  take  this  truth  to  heart.  Some  speak 
as  though  salvation  were  a  technicality  and  they  sing  about  it, 

"  'Tis    done,    the    great    transaction's    done." 

To  many  such,  were  candor  courteous,  one  would  wish  to  say : 
Saved?  Saved  from  what?  You  are  habitually  anxious. 
Your  life  is  continually  vexed  with  little  fears  and  apprehen- 
sions. When  trouble  comes,  you  are  sure  that  you  cannot 
stand  it;  when  tasks  present  themselves,  you  are  certain  that 
you  cannot  perform  them.  You  have  pet  self-indulgences, 
from  major  sins  to  little  meannesses;  you  know  that  they  are 
wrong ;  but  when  suggestion  comes  that  you  surrender  them, 
you  are  sure  that  you  have  not  the  strength.  When  causes, 
plainly  Christian,  on  whose  successful  issue  man's  weal  de- 
pends, appeal  to  you  for  help,  you  weaken  every  enterprise  by 
your  disheartenment.  Saved  from  what?  Not  from  fear, 
timidity,  selfishness,  and  stagnation !  And  if  you  say,  Saved 
from  Hell — what  is  Hell  but  the  final  subjugation  of  the  soul 
to  such  sins  as  you  now  are  cherishing?  The  words  of  Jesus 
are  promises  of  saviorhood'from  real  and  present  evils:  "Be 
not  anxious"  (Matt.  6:34)  ;  "Go,  sin  no  more"  (John  8:  n)  ; 
"Fear  not,  little  flock"  (Luke  12:32).  When  one,  by  faith, 
turns  his  face  homeward  from  such  destroyers  of  life,  he 

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CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  POWER          [XI-c] 

begins  to  be  saved;  but  only  as  he  lives  by  faith  in  fellowship 
with  the  Divine  and  so  achieves  progressive  victory,  does  he 
keep  on  being  saved.  The  heart  of  salvation  is  victorious 

po-iccr. 

II 

Not  all  men  feel  the  need  of  the  power  which  comes  from 
discipleship  to  Christ.  They  live  content  without  such  incre- 
ment of  strength  as  Christians  find  in  faith.  Their  power  is 
equal  to  their  tasks  because  their  tasks  are  levelled  to  their 
power.  One  cannot  understand,  therefore,  what  the  Savior- 
hood  of  Christ  has  meant  to  men,  unless  he  sees  how  Christ 
has  created  the  need  of  the  very  power  he  furriishes.  He  has 
done  this,  in  part,  by  awakening  the  desire  for  an  ascending 
life.  Men  do  not  naturally  want  to  believe  in  possibilities  too 
great  and  taxing ;  it  always  is  easier  to  leave  undisturbed  the 
status  quo.  Even  changing  one's  residence  is  difficult. 
Though  one  may  move  to  a  better  house,  yet  to  decide  to 
move,  to  break  old  relationships,  to  tear  up  and  refit  the 
furnishings,  and  to  adjust  oneself  to  new  associations  mean 
stress  and  strain.  So  men  come  to  be  at  home  with  habits ; 
they  are  comfortably  accustomed  to  timidity  and  self-indul- 
gence. Release  into  a  new  life  does  not  lure  as  privilege;  it 
repels  as  hardship.  Some  sins,  indeed,  are  followed  by  re- 
morse, but  others,  grown  habitual,  bring  a  sense  of  well- 
being  and  content.  We  like  ourselves ;  we  do  not  want  a 
better  life ;  we  are  unwilling  to  pay  its  cost.  Our  sins  are  no 
bed  of  nettles,  but  a  lotus  land  of  decent  ease.  Were  we 
candidly  to  speak  to  them,  we  should  say,  O  Sin,  you  are  a 
comfortable  friend!  When  most  we  want  forbidden  fruit 
you  suggest  excuses.  You  side  happily  with  our  inclinations 
and  save  us  from  the  struggle  that  high  duty  costs  and  the 
sacrifice  of  striving  for  the  best.  Among  the  blessings  of 
our  lives,  we  count  you  not  the  least,  O  decent,  comfortable, 
self-indulgent  Sin ! 

Idlers  thus  drift  listlessly  and  refuse  a  voyage  with  a  pur- 
pose and  a  goal ;  youths  living  by  low  standards,  look  on 
Christlike  character  as  beyond  their  interest  and  possibility ; 
undedicated  men  find  excuse  for  holding  back  devotion  to 
great  causes  in  the  world — we  shelter  ourselves  from  aspira- 
tion and  enterprise  behind  our  faithlessness.  Into  such  a  sit- 
uation Christ  repeatedly  has  come,  bringing  a  vision  of  what 

2/7 


[XI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

life  ought  to  be,  too  imperative  to  be  neglected,  too  challenging 
to  be  denied.  Men  have  been  shaken  out  of  their  content;  the 
true  color  of  their  lives  has  been  revealed  against  his  white 
background,  the  meanness  of  their  plans  against  the  wide 
ranges  of  his  purpose.  From  seeing  him  they  have  gone  back 
to  be  content  in  their  old  habits,  but  in  vain.  Can  one  who  has 
seen  a  home  be  happy  in  a  hovel  ?  Ranke,  the  historian,  says, 
"More  guiltless  and  more  powerful,  more  exalted  and  more 
holy,  has  naught  ever  been  on  earth  than  his  conduct,  his  life, 
and  his  death.  The  human  race  knows  nothing  that  could  be 
brought  even  afar  off  into  comparison  with  it."  So  he  has 
been  the  disturber  of  man's  ignoble  self-content,  and  to  say 
that  we  believe  in  him  means  that,  no  longer  able  to  endure 
the  thing  we  are,  we  go  on  pilgrimage  toward  the  thing  he  is. 
Faith  means  that  we  decide  to  move.  This  first  essential  work 
of  saviorhood  Christ  has  wrought,  and  when  men  start  to 
follow  him,  they  feel  the  need  of  power. 

For  another  thing,  Christ  has  created  a  thirst  for  the  power 
he  furnishes  by  revealing  the  quality  of  character  in  the 
possession  of  which  salvation  ultimately  consists.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  ethical  development  whether  of  the  individual 
or  of  the  race,  goodness  is  defined  in  terms  of  prohibitions. 
There  are  many  things  which  men  ought  not  to  do ;  they  walk 
embarrassed  in  the  presence  of  their  duty  like  courtiers  be- 
fore an  exacting  prince.  How  negative  and  repelling  such 
goodness  is !  As  another  exclaims :  "They  do  not  break  the 
Sabbath  themselves,  but  no  one  who  has  to  spend  it  with  them 
likes  to  see  the  dreadful  day  come  round.  They  do  not  swear 
themselves,  but  they  make  all  who  know  them  want  to.  They 
are  just  as  good  as  trying  not  to  be  bad  can  make  them." 

Discerning  spirits,  therefore,  turn  to  goodness  positively 
conceived.  "Thou  shalt  not"  becomes  "Thou  shalt" ;  duty 
consists  of  rules  to  be  kept,  precepts  to  be  observed,  principles 
to  be  applied,  and  we  go  out  to  do  good  deeds  to  men.  But 
whoever  seriously  tries  to  do  deeds  really  good,  faces  a  need 
of  moral  elevation,  as  much  beyond  the  outward  act  of  good 
as  that  surpasses  the  observance  of  prohibitions.  Good  deeds 
are  not  a  matter  of  will  alone,  but  of  spiritual  quality.  Let 
the  wind  blow  to  fan  the  faces  of  the  sick,  but  if  it  discover 
that  it  is  laden  with  disease,  what  shall  it  do?  To  blow  this 
way  or  that  may  be  within  volition's  power,  but  not  to  cleanse 
oneself.  The  task  of  character  reaches  inward,  beyond  the 

278 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  POWER          [XI-c] 

things  we  do  or  refrain  from  doing  to  the  man  we  are.  Good- 
ness is  something  more  than  girding  up  the  loins,  blowing 
upon  the  hands,  and  setting  to  the  work  of  being  dutiful.  It 
springs  from  the  spirit's  depths ;  it  is  tinctured  with  the  spirit's 
quality;  and  deeds  are  never  really  better  than  the  soul  whose 
utterances  they  are.  From  "Thou  shalt  not  do"  to  "Thou 
shalt  do"  and  from  "Thou  shalt  do"  to  "Thou  shalt  be,"  man's 
flying  goal  of  goodness  moves.  And  this  ideal  in  Christ  has 
been  incarnate,  visible,  imperative.  He  was  right  in  the  inner 
quality  and  flavor  of  his  life ;  and  to  be  like  him  involves  a 
pure  and  powerful  personality.  Whoever  sets  that  task  ahead 
knows  that  he  cannot  strut  proudly  into  it.  Like  Alice  enter- 
ing Wonderland  he  must  grow  very  small  before  he  can  grow 
large.  The  Christ  who  has  power  to  give  has  revealed  the 
need  of  it. 

Not  only  by  the  intensifying  of  the  ideal,  but  by  its  exten- 
sion, has  Christ  created  thirst  for  divine  help.  In  youth  the 
problem  of  character  concerns  personal  habits.  Our  untamed 
strength  must  be  broken  to  the  harness,  and  the  snaffle  bit  be 
used  upon  our  wayward  powers.  We  justly  fear  our  sins  and 
in  their  triumph  we  see  the  wreck  of  individual  prospects  and 
the  ruin  of  our  families'  hopes.  Our  concern  centers  about 
ourselves,  and  its  crux  is  self-mastery.  But  when  in  maturity, 
somewhat  "at  leisure  from  ourselves"  in  settled  habits,  we 
no  longer  fear  our  own  ruin  nor  think  it  probable,  goodness 
extends  its  meaning.  To  play  our  part  in  man's  advancement, 
to  live,  work,  sacrifice,  and  if  need  be  die  for  causes  on  which 
our  children's  hopes  depend,  becomes  our  ideal.  As  boys  in 
spring-time  when  the  ice  is  melting  see  from  a  hill-top  the 
swirling  flood  that  overflows  the  plain,  and  know  that  some- 
where underneath  the  unfamiliar  and  tumultuous  rapids  the 
main  channel  runs,  from  which  the  floods  have  broken,  to 
which  in  time  they  must  return,  so  in  a  generation  when  man's 
life  has  broken  its  banks  in  fury  we  still  believe  that  the  main 
course  of  the  divine  purpose  is  not  forever  lost.  To  believe 
that,  and  in  the  strength  of  it  to  toil  for  the  ends  God  seeks, 
becomes  to  awakened  spirits  the  essential  soul  of  goodness. 

When  such  meanings  enter  into  his  ideal,  a  man  runs 
straight  upon  the  need  of  God.  For  we  may  make  our  contri- 
bution to  the  cause  of  man's  good  upon  the  earth  and  our 
children  may  make  theirs,  but  if  this  world  is  a  spiritual 
Sahara,  never  meant  for  character  and  social  weal,  and  against 

279 


[XI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

the  dead  set  of  the  desert's  power  we  are  building  oases  here 
with  our  unaided  fingers,  then  the  issue  of  our  work  stands 
in  no  doubt.  The  Sahara  will  pile  its  burning  sands  about  us 
and  hurl  its  blistering  winds  across  us,  and  we  and  our  works 
together  come  to  naught.  By  as  much,  then,  as  a  man  really 
cares  about  democracy  and  liberty  and  social  equity,  about 
human  brotherhood  and  Christian  civilization,  by  so  much  he 
needs  God,  who  gathers  up  the  scattered  contributions  of  his 
children  and  builds  them  into  victory.  A  man  alone  may 
keep  the  decalogue,  but  alone  he  cannot  save  the  world. 
Who  dreams  of  that  wants  power.  And  Christ  has  made  men 
dream  of  that,  believe  in  that  with  passionate  certainty,  until 
"Thy  Kingdom  come"  is  the  daily  prayer  of  multitudes.  To 
no  human  strength  can  such  prayer  be  offered ;  we  are  not 
adequate  to  an  eternal,  universal  task.  Again  Christ  has 
brought  us  to  the  need  of  power,  and  his  people  call  him 
Savior,  because  the  need  which  he  creates  he  also  satisfies. 

In  one  of  the  tidal  rivers  near  New  York,  the  building  of 
a  bridge  was  interrupted  by  a  derelict  sunk  in  the  river's 
bottom.  Divers  put  chains  about  the  obstacle  and  all  day  long 
the  engineer  directed  the  maneuvering  of  tugs  as  they  puffed 
and  pulled  in  vain  endeavor  to  dislodge  the  hulk.  Then  a 
young  student,  fresh  from  the  technical  school,  asked  for  the 
privilege  of  trying,  and  from  the  vexed,  impatient  chief  ob- 
tained his  wish.  "What  will  you  do  it  with?"  the  engineer 
enquired.  "The  flat-boats  in  which  we  brought  the  granite 
from  Vermont,"  the  young  man  answered.  So  when  the  tide 
was  out,  the  flat  boats  were  fastened  to  the  derelict.  The  At- 
lantic began  to  come  in;  its  mighty, shoulders  underneath  the 
boats  lifted — lifted  until  the  derelict  had  to  come.  The  youth 
had  harnessed  infinite  energy  to  his  task.  To  the  consciousness 
of  such  resource  in  the  spiritual  world  Christ  has  introduced 
his  people.  They  have  meant  not  formula  but  fact,  not  tech- 
nicality but  experience,  when  they  have  called  him  Savior. 

Ill 

This  consciousness  of  power  has  come  in  part  from  Christ's 
revelation  of  God  the  Father.  Whoever  has  sinned  against 
his  friend  or  unkindly  wronged  a  child  knows  what  sin  does 
to  personal  relationships.  How  swift  a  change  comes  over  a 
son's  thought  of  his  father  when  the  son  has  sinned !  The 

280 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  POWER          [XI-c] 

wrong  may  have  been  done  secretly  so  that  his  sire  does  not 
know,  and  the  boy  alone  on  earth  is  conscious  of  it.  But  for 
all  that  the  filial  relationship  has  lost  its  glory.  Before  the  sin, 
the  son  was  happy  with  his  father  near ;  they  were  com- 
panions, confidants,  and  to  the  boy  fatherhood  was  very  beau- 
tiful. Now,  he  is  most  unhappy  with  his  father  near;  the 
father's  eyes  like  a  detective's  pierce  him  through,  the  face 
like  a  judge's  waits  sternly  to  condemn.  He  is  looking  at 
his  father  through  the  dark  glasses  of  his  sin,  and  they  dis- 
tort his  vision.  When  one  considers  the  gods  whom  men  have 
worshiped,  approaching  them  by  bloody  altar-stairs,  offering 
their  first-born  to  assuage  wrath  or  win  from  apathy  to  favor, 
he  sees,  extended  to  a  racial  scale,  our  boyhood's  tragedy. 
Mankind  lias  been  looking  at  the  Father  through  its  ignorance 
and  sin  and  it  has  seen  liiin  beclouded  and  awry.  Christ 
changed  all  that.  By  what  he  taught,  by  what  he  was,  by  what 
he  suffered  he  has  said  to  man,  so  that  man  increasingly  has 
believed  it — You  are  wrong  about  God.  He  does  not  stand 
aloof — careless  or  vindictive;  he  is  not  as  he  looks  to  you 
through  the  twisted  lenses  of  your  evil.  He  loves  you.  He 
cares  beyond  your  power  to  understand,  and  all  my  compas- 
sion but  reveals  in  time  what  is  eternally  in  him.  He  is 
pledged  to  the  victory  of  goodness  in  you  and  in  the  world, 
and  you  have  not  used  all  your  power  until  you  have  used  his, 
for  that,  too,  is  yours. 

From  that  day  the  fight  against  sin  has  been  a  new  thing, 
and  men  have  gone  into  it  with  battle-cries  they  never  used 
before — "God  was  in  Christ,  reconciling  the  world  unto  him- 
self" (II  Cor.  5:  19)  ;  "God  commendeth  his  own  love  toward 
us,  in  that,  while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us" 
(Rom.  5:8);  "If  God  is  for  us,  who  is  against  us?"  (Rom. 
8:31). 

This  access  of  power  has  come  in  part  from  Christ's  revela- 
tion of  man.  When  a  jewel  is  taken  from  darkness  into  sun- 
light, there  is  a  two-fold  revealing.  The  sunlight  is  disclosed 
in  new  glory,  for  it  never  seemed  so  beautiful  before  as  it 
appears  breaking  in  splendor  through  the  jewel's  heart.  And 
there  is  a  revelation  of  the  jewel.  Dull  and  unillumined  in  the 
dark,  it  is  lustrous  when  the  sun  enlightens  it.  So  Christ 
brought  us  an  unveiling  of  the  Father ;  the  Divine  never  had 
seemed  so  wonderful  as  when  it  poured  in  glory  through  his 
purity  and  love.  And  he  brought  as  well  a  new  revelation 

281 


[XI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

of  man.  Our  human  nature,  bedimmed  by  sin  and  lusterless, 
he  in  his  own  person  took  up  into  the  light,  and  lifting  it 
where  all  mankind  could  see  he  cried — This  is  human  nature 
— man  as  God  intended  him  to  be — no  slave  ®f  fate  and  dupe 
of  sin,  but  a  free  man  and  a  victor.  And  from  that  day  the 
war  on  sin  has  had  new  spirit  in  it,  and  battle  cries  that 
presage  triumph  have  grown  familiar  on  the  fighters'  lips : 
"Now  are  we  children  of  God,  and  it  is  not  yet  made  manifest 
what  we  shall  be"  (I  John  3:2);  "Till  we  all  attain  unto  the 
unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God, 
unto  a  full-grown  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of 
the  fulness  of  Christ"  (Eph.  4 :  13)  ;  "His  precious  and  ex- 
ceeding great  promises ;  that  through  these  ye  may  become 
partakers  of  the  divine  nature"  (II  Pet.  1:4). 

IV 

Christ's  double  revelation  of  God  and  man,  however,  has 
had  its  vital  impact  of  power  on  life  in  what  Christians  have 
always  called  the  experience  of  the  Spirit.  When  the  New 
Testament  speaks  its  characteristic  word  about  the  Spirit,  it 
means  the  conscious  presence  of  the  living  God  in  the  hearts 
of  men,  and  that  is  the  very  essence  of  religion.  The  first 
Christians  did  not  know  God  in  one  way  only ;  they  knew  him 
in  three  ways.  So  one  man  might  know  Beethoven  the  com- 
poser and  be  an  authority  upon  his  works ;  another  might 
know  Beethoven  the  performer  and  delight  in  his  playing;  and 
another  might  know  Beethoven  the  man  and  rejoice  in  his 
friendship — but  no  one  could  know  the  whole  of  Beethoven 
until  he  knew  him  all  three  ways.  The  New  Testament  Chris- 
tians came  thus  to  God.  He  was  the  Father,  Creator  of  all; 
he  was  the  Character,  revealed  in  Jesus ;  but  as  well  he  was 
the  Spiritual  Presence  in  their  lives,  their  sustenance  and 
power.  "The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  love  of 
God,  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Spirit"  (II  Cor.  13:  14) 
— such  was  their  experience  of  the  Divine.  It  was  not  dogma; 
it  was  life.  God  was  Creator,  Character,  and  Comforter. 

Christian  experience  is  in  continual  danger  of  drifting  from 
this  vital  center.  In  our  age  especially,  we  are  prone  to  find 
God  at  the  end  of  an  argument  and  to  leave  him  there.  We 
have  been  compelled  by  militant  agnosticism  to  put  our  apolo- 
getic armies  on  the  defensive.  Finding  it  impossible  to  hold 

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CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  POWER          [XI-c] 

the  respect  of  men's  intelligence  without  reasonable  argu- 
ments in  the  faith's  behalf,  we  have  had  to  draw  such  infer- 
ences from  the  nature  of  the  material  universe,  from  the 
necessities  of  human  'nought,  the  demands  of  human  con- 
science, and  the  progress  of  moral  evolution  in  history,  that 
materialism  should  be  made,  what  indeed  it  is,  a  discredited 
affair.  But  God  so  arrived  at,  by  way  of  reason,  is  an  ex- 
ternal matter.  He  is  an  hypothesis  to  explain  the  universe. 
"He  sitteth  upon  the  circle  of  the  earth  and  the  inhabitants 
thereof  are  as  grasshoppers  before  him."  Granted  the  incal- 
culable value  in  such  faith,  putting  unity  into  history  and  pur- 
pose into  life — it  is  not  religion  and  it  never  can  be.  Reli- 
gion begins  when  the  God  outwardly  argued  is  inwardly  ex- 
perienced. Religion  begins  when  we  cease  using  the  tricky 
and  unstable  aeroplane  of  speculation  to  seek  Him  among  the 
clouds,  and  retreat  into  the  fertile  places  of  our  own  spirits 
where  the  living  water  rises,  as  Jesus  said.  God  outside  of  us 
is  a  theory;  God  inside  of  us  becomes  a  fact.  God  outside  of 
us  is  an  hypothesis;  God  inside  of  us  is  an  experience.  God 
the  Father  is  the  possibility  of  salvation ;  God  the  Spirit  is 
actuality  of  life,  joy,  peace,  and  saving  power.  God  the 
transcendent  may  do  for  philosophy,  but  he  is  not  enough 
for  religion. 

Without  this  completion  of  the  Gospel,  Christ's  saviorhood 
does  not  reach  inward  to  our  need.  For  lacking  it,  we  stand 
before  the  Master  with  the  same  admiration  that  a  man  who  is 
no  painter  feels  when  he  sees  a  Raphael.  He  knows  the  work 
is  sublime,  but  he  is  not  proposing  to  reproduce  it.  He  is  con- 
quered by  its  beauty,  but  he  knows  no  possibility  of  its  imita- 
tion. If,  however,  there  were  a  spirit  of  Raphael  that  could 
lay  hold  upon  a  man's  life  and  transform  him  to  the  master's 
skill  and  power,  then  his  admiration  would  become  inwardly 
effective.  It  takes  the  spirit  of  Raphael  to  do  Raphael's  work. 
If  this  gospel  of  an  indwelling  dynamic  is  not  coupled  with 
our  admiration  for  Jesus,  we  are  like  a  student  practicing  the 
fingering  of  the  Hallelujah  Chorus  on  an  organ  from  which 
the  power  has  been  shut  off.  With  what  accuracy  his  fingers 
travel  the  keys,  who  can  tell?  Once  Handel's  soul,  on  fire 
with  the  passion  of  harmony,  burned  itself  into  that  composi- 
tion. He  wrote  it  upon  his  knees.  But  with  whatever  agility 
the  student's  fingers  follow  the  notes,  no  Hallelujah  Chorus 
comes  from  his  organ  to  praise  God  and  move  men.  So  the 

283 


[XI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

record  of  this  matchless  character  handed  to  us  in  the  gospels, 
like  notes  of  music  meant  to  be  played  again,  is  but  our 
despair,  if  we  must  attempt  its  reproduction  on  a  powerless 
organ.  Our  admiration  for  it  is  external  and  ineffectual.  We 
fall  thereby  into  a  static  religion  of  creed ;  we  have  no 
dynamic  religion  of  progress  and  hope.  This  then  is  the  glori- 
ous message,  where  the  Christian  Gospel  reaches  its  climax, 
and  which  alone  puts  fullest  meaning  into  Jesus'  perfect  life : 
the  Spirit  of  God  in  Jesus  made  his  quality;  that  same  Spirit 
is  underground  in  our  lives,  striving  to  well  up  in  characters 
like  his,  until  we  live,  yet  not  we,  but  Christ  lives  in  us. 

Any  spring  day  may  serve  to  illustrate  this  faith.  Where 
does  the  restlessness  in  nature  have  its  source?  Every  tree, 
in  discontent,  hastens  to  make  buds  into  leaves,  and  every 
blade  of  grass  is  tremulous  with  impatient  life.  No  tree, 
however,  is  a  sufficient  explanation  of  its  own  haste  and  dis- 
satisfaction ;  no  flower  has  in  itself  the  secrets  of  its  eager 
growth.  The  spirit  of  life  is  abroad,  and  crowding  itself 
everywhere  on  old,  dead  forms,  is  making  them  bloom  again. 
Explain  then,  the  moral  restlessness  of  our  hearts  in  other 
wise !  We  do  illy  and  are  distraught  with  remorse  until  we 
repent  and  make  reparation.  We  attain  money  or  talents, 
and  are  chased  day  and  night  by  the  urgent  call  to  their  spir- 
itual dedication.  We  conform  ourselves  to  decency  and  still 
hear  a  call  for  goodness  beyond  all  earthly  need.  We  suc- 
ceed as  the  world  calls  it,  and  we  know  that  it  is  failure ;  we 
fail  as  the  world  sees  it,  and  our  hearts  sing  for  joy  be- 
cause we  know  that  we  have  succeeded.  Everywhere  we  are 
confronted  with  a  pulsing  life  that  longs  to  get  itself  ex- 
pressed in  us.  We  cannot  get  away  from  God.  He  is  not  far, 
he  is  here.  This  Spirit,  for  whom  there  is  no  better  name 
than  the  Spirit  of  Jesus,  is  our  continual  companion.  We  are 
locked  in  an  enforced  fellowship  with  him.  There  is  no  friend 
with  whom  we  deal  more  directly  and  continually  than  with 
him.  Every  time  we  open  an  inspiring  book  and  devoutly 
study  it,  this  Spirit  is  pleading  for  entrance.  Every  time  we 
pray  he  stands  at  the  door  and  knocks.  Every  time  some 
child  in  need,  or  some  great  cause  demanding  sacrifice,  lays 
claim  on  us,  this  Spirit  is  crying  to  be  let  in.  Men's  hunger 
for  food,  their  love  for  family  and  friends,  are  not  more 
direct,  concrete,  immediate  experiences  than  our  dealings  with 
this  Spirit  of  the  Lord.  He  is  not  only  God  the  Father;  he 

284 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  POWER          [XI-c] 

is  God  the  Spirit,  striving  to  dwell  in  us  and  work  through  us. 

Into  a  vital  use  of  this  relationship  with  the  Divine,  Christ 
opened  the  way  and  multitudes  have  followed.  He  has  taught 
men  to  find  that  same  resourcefulness  in  the  spiritual  world 
which  science  finds  in  the  physical.  Every  successful  inven- 
tion of  a  man  like  Edison  involves  a  twofold  faith:  that  there 
is  inexhaustible  power  in  the  universe  and  that,  with  per- 
sistent patience  and  cooperation,  there  is  no  telling  what 
marvels  yet  may  come  from  the  employment  of  it.  Faith 
is  science's  flying  column.  It  runs  out  into  engineering,  agri- 
culture, medicine,  and  refuses  to  limit  the  possibilities. 
Science  is  a  tremendous  believer ;  it  lives  by  faith  that  al- 
most anything  may  yet  be  done.  Such  a  relationship  Paul 
sustained  with  the  Spirit.  He  was  confident  of  resources 
there,  "exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or  think" 
(Eph.  3:20).  He  was  a  spiritual  Edison,  a  believer  in  the 
divine  reality  and  power  and  their  availability  by  faith  in 
human  life. 

Only  such  a  Gospel' is  adequate  to  man's  deepest  need.  Sin, 
whether  its  forms  be  decent  or  obscene,  cripples  men's  wills 
with  the  appalling  certainty  that  they  are  slaves.  As  a  hyp- 
notist draws  imaginary  circles  around  his  victims,  across 
which  they  cannot  step,  so  Sin,  that  Svengali  of  the  soul, 
whether  in  personal  or  social  life,  paralyzes  its  dupes  with 
disbelief  in  possibilities.  To  innumerable  folk,  emprisoned 
by  their  fears  and  sins,  Christ  has  been  the  Savior.  He  has 
awakened  that  faith  which,  as  he  said,  is  the  greatest  moun- 
tain-mover known  to  men.  They  have  been  "strengthened 
with  power  through  his  Spirit  in  the  inward  man"  (Eph. 
3:16). 


When  one  considers,  as  we  have  in  these  two  chapters, 
what  Christ  has  meant  in  the  experience  of  his  people,  little 
wonder  can  remain  that  they  have  called  him  by  such  high 
names  as  have  aroused  man's  incredulity.  For  this  Gospel 
of  power  has  never  been  separable  from  him,  as  though  he 
were  its  historic  fountain  and  could  easily  be  forgotten  by 
those  who  far  down-stream  enjoyed  the  water.  His  person- 
ality itself  has  been  the  inspiration  of  his  people.  At  Marston 
Moor,  when  the  Puritans  and  Cavaliers  were  aligned  for 
battle  and  all  was  in  readiness  for  conflict  to  begin,  Oliver 

285 


[XI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

Cromwell  came  riding  across  the  plain.  And  the  chronicler 
says  that  at  the  sight  of  him  the  Puritans  sent  up  a  great 
victorious  shout,  as  though  their  battle  already  had  been  won. 
Some  such  effect  our  Lord  has  had  on  his  disciples.  To  ex- 
plain that  effect  one  would  have  to  speak  not  so  much  of  his 
teaching  as  of  himself — his  character  and  purpose;  nor  so 
much  of  them  as  of  the  Cross  where  all  he  taught  and  was 
came  to  a  point  of  flame  that  has  set  the  world  on  fire.  Christ 
was  the 

"nerve  o'er  which  do  creep 
The  else   unfelt   oppressions   of   the   earth." 

He  suffered  with  man  and  for  man,  he  uniquely  embodied  in 
his  own  experience  the  universal  law  that  the  consequences  of 
sin  fall  in  part  on  the  one  who  loves  the  sinner  and  tries  to 
save  him ;  and  in  that  sacrifice  his  work  for  man  was  consum- 
mated, and  his  influence  'over  man  confirmed.  When  his 
people  have  bowed  before  him  in  unutterable  devotion  they 
have  been  thinking  not  only  of  what  he  has  done  for  them, 
but  of  what  it  cost  him  to  do  it. 

Why,  therefore,  should  we  wonder  that  his  disciples  at  their 
best  have  called  Jesus  divine?  His  first  followers  began  with 
no  abstract  ideas  of  deity ;  they  began  with  "the  man,  Christ 
Jesus"  (I  Tim.  2:5).  They  had  no  idea  at  the  first  that  he 
was  more.  His  bodily  and  mental  life  had  obeyed  the  laws 
of  normal  human  development,  advancing  "in  wisdom  and 
stature,  and  in  favor  with  God  and  men"  (Luke  2:52).  He 
hungered  after  his  temptation,  thirsted  on  the  Cross,  slept 
from  weariness  while  the  boat  tossed  in  a  storm,  and  ex- 
hausted, sat  beside  the  well.  Like  other  men  he  had  elevated 
Tiours  of  great  rejoicing;  times  when  compassion  moved  him 
to  tears,  as  when  he  saw  a  multitude  unshepherded  or,  swing- 
ing round  the  brow  of  Olivet,  beheld  Jerusalem ;  and  hours  of 
hot  indignation,  too,  as  when  he  found  his  Father's  house  a 
den  of  thieves  or  spoke  out  his  heart  against  the  Pharisees. 
He  asked  questions,  and  was  astonished,  now  at  the  people's 
lack  of  faith,  again  at  the  centurion's  excess  of  it.  His  fel- 
lowship with  God  was  nourished  by  secret  prayer,  his  power 
replenished  by  retreat  to  quiet  places  for  communion,  and 
all  his  life  was  lived,  his  temptations  faced,  his  troubles 
borne,  and  his  work  done  in  a  spirit  of  humble,  filial  depen- 
dence on  his  Father. 

286 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOR:  POWER          [XI-c] 

Thus  real  and  human,  a  sharer  in  their  limitations,  their 
sorrows,  and  their  moral  trials,  the  first  disciples  saw  the 
Master.  But  ever  as  they  lived  with  him,  whether  in  physical 
presence  or  in  spiritual  fellowship,  he  wrought  in  them  a 
Savior's  work.  '  He  became  to  them  manhood  indeed,  but 
manhood  plus.  He  grew  in  their  apprehension,  as  though  a 
boy  had  thought  an  ocean's  inlet  were  a  lake  enclosed,  and 
now  discovers  that  it  is  the  sea  itself,  and  all  its  tides  the 
pulse  of  the  great  deep.  How  should  they  name  this  greatness 
in  their  Lord?  They  were  not  utterly  without  a  clue,  for  he 
himself  had  introduced  them  to  the  life  divine.  They  had 
learned  through  him  to  say  about  themselves  that  they  were 
temples  in  which  God  dwelt  (II  Cor.  6:  16),  that  God  abode  in 
them  (.1  John  4:  12),  that  he  stood  ever  waiting  to  come  in 
(Rev.  3:20),  and  that  the  possession  of  the  divine  nature  was 
the  Gospel's  promise  (II  Pet.  i  :4).  By  what  other  element  in 
their  experience  could  they  interpret  the  greatness  of  their 
Lord  ?  It  might  be  inadequate,  but  it  was  the  best  they  had. 
They  rose  to  understand  the  divine  life  in  him  from  the  expe- 
rience of  the  divine  life  in  themselves.  "God  was  in  Christ," 
they  said.  They  never  dreamed  of  claiming  equality  with  him. 
Like  pools  beside  the  sea,  they  understood  the  ocean's  quality 
from  their  own.  There  are  not  two  kinds  of  sea-water;  nor, 
with  one  God,  can  there  be  two  kinds  of  divine  life.  But  so 
understanding  the  sea,  shall  the  pool  claim  equality  with  it? 
Rather,  the  sea  has  deeps,  tides,  currents,  and  relationships 
with  the  world's  life  that  no  pool  can  ever  know.  So  Christ 
was  at  once  their  brother  and  their  Lord.  He  was  real,  be- 
cause they  interpreted  his  life  divine  from  the  foregleams  of 
God's  presence  in  themselves.  He  was  adorable,  because  he 
was  an  ocean  to  their  landlocked  pools,  and  they  waited  for 
his  tides. 

Only  by  some  such  road  as  these  first  disciples  trod  can  men 
come  to  a  vital  understanding  of  the  Lord.  Nothing  but 
experience  can  give  us  a  living  estimate  of  anything;  without 
that  theory  is  vain.  Let  a  man  live  with  the  Master's  man- 
hood until  it  grows  luminous  and  through  it  he  sees  the  char- 
acter of  God ;  let  a  man  avail  himself  of  the  Master's  savior- 
hood  until  forgiven  and  empowered  he  finds  the  "life  that  is 
life  indeed";  let  a  man  grow  in  the  experience  of  God's  pres- 
ence until  he  knows  not  only  the  God  without  but  the  God 
within;  and  then  if  he  rises  to  estimate  his  Lord,  he  will  not 

287 


[XI-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

hesitate  to  see  in  Jesus  the  incarnate  presence  of  the  living 
God.  After  that,  theology  may  help  or  hinder  him,  according 
as  it  is  wise  and  vital  or  cold  and  formal ;  but  with  theology 
or  not,  he  knows  the  heart  of  the  New  Testament's  attitude 
toward  Jesus.  He  understands  why  the  first  Christians 
summed  up  their  faith  as  "believing  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 


288 


CHAPTER  XII 

The  Fellowship  of  Faith 

DAILY  READINGS 

Our  thought  turns,  in  our  closing  week  of  study,  from  be- 
lievers taken  one  by  one,  to  believers  gathered  in  fellowship. 
This  community  of  faith  has  wider  boundaries  than  the 
organized  churches ;  in  a  real  sense  it  includes  all  servants 
of  man's  ideal  aims ;  yet  in  the  Church  we  naturally  seek  the 
chief  meanings  of  fellowship  for  faith.  Why  men  do  not 
go  to  church,  is  often  asked.  But  why  men  do  go,  so  that 
in  spite  of  countless  failures  :'n  the  churches,  attendance  on 
public  worship  and  loyalty  to  organized  religion  are  among 
mankind's  most  usual  habits,  is  an  inquiry  far  more  important. 
To  that  inquiry  let  us  in  the  daily  readings  turn  our  thought. 

Twelfth  Week,  First  Day 

But  woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites! 
because  ye  shut  the  kingdom  of  heaven  against  men:  for 
ye  enter  not  in  yourselves,  neither  suffer  ye  them  that  are 
entering  in  tc  enter. 

Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites!  for 
ye  compass  sea  and  land  to  make  one  proselyte;  and 
when  he  is  become  so,  ye  make  him  twofold  more  a  son 
of  hell  than  yourselves.  .  .  . 

Woe  unto  you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites!  for 
ye  tithe  mint  and  anise  and  cummin,  and  have  left  un- 
done the  weightier  matters  of  the  law,  justice,  and  mercy, 
and  faith:  but  these  ye  ought  to  have  done,  and  not  to 
have  left  the  other  undone.  Ye  blind  guides,  that  strain 
out  the  gnat,  and  swallow  the  camel! — Matt.  23:  13-15; 
23,  24. 

Jesus'  indictment  of  the  Jewish  Church  is  terrific,  and  yet 
no  one  who  knows  the  story  of  the  Christian  churches  can 
doubt  that  they  often  have  deserved  the  same  condemnation. 

289 


[i-IIX]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

They  have  at  times  committed  all  the  sins  that  can  be  laid 
at  any  institution's  door ;  they  have  been  selfish,  formal, 
worldly,  cruel.  A  wonder-story  from  the  Arctic  says  that 
once  the  candle-flames  froze  and  the  explorers  broke  them 
off  and  wore  them  for  watch  charms ;  the  flames  of  the  great 
fire  congealed  and  were  wound  like  golden  ornaments  around 
men's  necks.  So  repeatedly  the  burning  words  of  Scripture, 
the  blazing  affirmations  of  old  creeds,  on  fire  at  first  with 
the  passion  of  souls  possessed  by  God,  have  been  frozen  in 
the  churches'  Arctic  climate,  and  handed  to  men  like  talismans 
and  amulets,  with  no  saving  warmth  or  light.  Creeds,  rituals, 
organizations — how  often  these  frozen  forms  of  life  have 
taken  the  place  of  inward  spiritual  power !  Dr.  Washington 
Gladden  would  not  be  alone  in  saying :  "While  therefore  I 
had  as  large  an  experience  of  church-going  in  my  boyhood 
as  most  boys  can  recall,  I  cannot  lay  my  hand  on  my  heart 
and  say  that  the  church-going  helped  me  to  solve  my  reli- 
gious problems.  In  fact,  it  made  those  problems  more  and 
more  tangled  and  troublesome."  And  yet  the  Church  goes 
on.  Voltaire  prophesied  its  collapse  in  fifty  years,  and  in  fifty 
years  the  house  where  he  made  the  prophecy  was  a  depot 
for  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures.  The  Church's  persis- 
tence, continual  adaptation  to  new  conditions,  and  apparently 
endless  power  of  revival  must  have  some  deep  reason.  It 
may  'be  because  prayer  like  this  which  follows  has  never 
utterly  died  out  in  the  sanctuary. 

O  Thou  that  dwellest  not  in  temples  made  with  hands! 
We  ever  stand  within  the  courts  of  Thy  glorious  presence, 
only  we  open  now  the  gates  of  our  poor  praise.  Thou  hast 
enriched  this  day  of  rest,  O  Lord,  with  Thy  choicest  gifts 
of  peace;  and  lo!  Thou  unj  or  getting  God,  its  record  is  be- 
fore Thee,  for  ages  past,  moistened  with  penitential  tears, 
and  illumined  with  glad  hopes,  and  hallowed  by  the  innumer- 
able prayers  of  faithful  and  saintly  men.  In  this  our  day  may 
the  churches  of  Thy  Holy  One  seek  Thee  still  in  spirit  and 
truth;  may  we  also  enter  in  and  find  our  rest,  being  of  one 
heart  and  mind,  and  serving  Thee  with  a  wakeful  and  humble 
joy.  Teach  us  now  how  we  may  converse  with  Thee,  for  we 
cannot  order  our  speech  by  reason  of  darkness.  We  are 
naked  and  without  disguise  before  Thee;  oh!  hide  not  Thy- 
self from  us  behind  our  ignorance  and  sin.  May  we  at  least 

290 


THE  FELLOWSHIP  OF  FAITH          [XII-2] 

in  this  Thine  hour  shake' off  the  sluggish  clouds  of  sense  and 
self  that  cling  around  our  souls;  and  strenuously  open  our 
whole  nature  to  the  breath  of  Thy  free  spirit,  and  the  health- 
ful sunshine  of  Thy  grace.  Let  the  divine  image  of  the  Son 
of  God  visit  us  with  power;  driving  out,  with  the  chastise- 
ment of  penitence,  all  obtruding  passions  that  profane  the 
temple  of  our  hearts,  and  turn  into  a  place  of  traffic  that 
native  house  of  prayer.  O  God  of  glory,  God  of  grace!  let 
not  the  things  ivhich  are  spiritually  discerned  be  foolishness 
unto  us  through  the  blindness  of  our  conscience:  Thou  know- 
est  the  thoughts  of  our  wisdom  that  they  are  vain;  take  them 
from  us,  and  bid  them  vanish  away,  lost  in  that  wisdom  from 
above  which  is  revealed  only  to  the  pure  in  heart.  Not  unto 
us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  Thee  be  every  thought  of 
praise!  Amen. — James  Martineau. 

Twelfth  Week,  Second  Day 

Some  men  doubtless  go  to  church  from  traditional  habit 
only,  but  such  a  motive  obviously  is  not  adequate  to  explain 
why  the  recurrent  tides  of  humanity,  even  after  an  ebb  in 
interest,  sweep  back  to  the  Church  again.  In  the  eighteenth 
century,  for  example,  Butler  reports  the  common  opinion 
that  all  that  remained  for  Christianity  was  decent  obsequies. 
But  in  a  few  years  the  We •=  leys  began  a  movement  that 
changed  the  spiritual  complexion  of  the  English  speaking 
world,  and  swept  multitudes  into  Christian  fellowship.  One 
reason  for  this  repeated  fact  is  clear.  Mankind  cannot  and 
will  not  consent  to  live  without  faith  in  God,  and  faith  in 
God  in  its  genesis  and  its  sustenance  is  largely  a  matter  of 
contagion.  We  are  not  so  much  taught  it ;  we  catch  it.  It 
is  vitally  imparted  in  the  family  circle,  and  wherever  kindred 
and  believing  spirits  gather.  No  man  is  so  independent  as 
to  escape  the  vital  fact  that  his  noblest  emotions,  attitudes, 
ideals,  and  faiths  are  socially  engendered  and  socially  sus- 
tained ;  he  never  would  have  had  them  in  a  solitary  life  and 
a  solitary  life  would  soon  spoil  those  which  he  has  now.  A 
man  may  believe  in  his  country  and  love  her ;  but  let  him 
join  in  a  patriotic  movement  or  even  attend  a  high-spirited 
patriotic  meeting,  and  he  will  believe  in  her  and  love  her  more 
ardently.  Man's  religious  life  is  not  lawless ;  it  is  regulated 
by  the  same  necessities  of  fellowship.  The  Church  has  made 

291 


[XII-3]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

many  mistakes,  but  on  her  altar  the  fire  has  never  utterly 
gone  out,  and  in  her  fellowship  the  faith  of  multitudes  has 
been  kindled. 

Let  us  hold  fast  the  confession  of  our  hope  that  it  waver 
not;  for  he  is  faithful  that  promised:  and  let  us  consider 
one  another  to  provoke  unto  love  and  good  works;  not 
forsaking  our  own  assembling  together,  as  the  custom  of 
some  is,  but  exhorting  one  another;  and  so  much  the  more, 
as  ye  see  the  day  drawing  nigh. — Heb.  10:  23-25. 

Great  is  Thy  name,  O  God,  and  greatly  to  be  praised.  In 
Thee  all  our  discordant  notes  rise  into  perfect  harmony.  It 
is  good  for  us  to  think  of  the  wonder  of  Thy  being.  Thou 
art  silent,  yet  most  strong;  unchangeable,  yet  ever  changing; 
ever  working,  yet  ever  at  rest,  supporting,  nourishing,  matur- 
ing all  things.  O  Thou  Eternal  Spirit,  who  hast  set  our  noisy 
years  in  the  heart  of  Thy  eternity,  lift  us  above  the  power 
and  evils  of  the  passing  time,  that  under  the  shadozv  of  Thy 
•wings  we  may  take  courage  and  be  glad.  So  great  art  Thou, 
beyond  our  utmost  imagining,  that  we  could  not  speak  to 
Thee  didst  Thou  not  first  draw  near  to  us  and  say,  "Seek  ye 
my  face."  Unto  Thee  our  hearts  would  make  reply,  "Thy 
face,  Lord,  will  we  seek."  .  .  .  We  thank  Thee  for  our  birth 
into  a  Christian  community,  for  the  Church  and  the  Sacra- 
ments of  Thy  grace,  for  the  healing  day  of  rest,  when  we 
enter  with  Thy  people  into  Thy  House  and  there  make  holy- 
day ;  for  the  refreshment  of  soul,  the  joys  of  communion, 
the  spiritual  discipline,  the  inspiration  of  prayer  and  hymn 
and  sermon.  .  .  .  We  praise  Thee  for  the  myriad  influences 
of  good,  conscious  and  unconscious,  that  have  been  about  us, 
deeply  penetrating  our  inner  life,  shaping  and  fitting  us  for 
Thy  Kingdom.  Thou  hast  indeed  forgiven  all  our  iniquities, 
and  healed  all  our  diseases,  and  redeemed  our  life  from 
destruction,  and  crowned  us  with  loving-kindness.  There- 
fore would  we  call  upon  our  souls,  and  all  that  is  within  us, 
to  bless  Thy  holy  Name.  Amen. — Samuel  McComb. 

Twelfth  Week,  Third  Day 

For  ye,  brethren,  were  called  for  freedom;  only  use  not 
your  freedom  for  an  occasion  to  the  flesh,  but  through 
love  be  servants  one  to  another.  For  the  whole  law  is 
fulfilled  in  one  word,  even  in  this:  Thou  shalt  love  thy 

292 


THE  FELLOWSHIP  OF  FAITH          [XI 1-3] 

neighbor  as  thyself.  But  if  ye  bite  and  devour  one  an- 
other, take  heed  that  ye  be  not  consumed  one  of  another. 
— Gal.  5:  I3-I5- 

One  fundamental  reason  for  the  endless  revival  of  the 
Church  is  that  faith  never  is  satisfied  until  it  issues  in  work. 
It  insists  on  our  being  "servants  one  to  another."  \Ye 
have  spoken  of  God's  merciful  acceptance  of  a  man  when 
out  of  sin  he  turns  his  life  by  faith  toward  Christ;  but  to 
interpret  this  as  meaning  the  adequacy  of  faith  without  effec- 
tive service  is  to  misread  Scripture  and  to  demoralize  life. 
Faith  that  does  not  lead  to  service  is  no  real  faith  at  all. 
But  whenever  men  endeavor  to  express  in  work  any  faith 
which  they  may  hold  they  must  come  together.  Service  in- 
volves cooperation.  A  hermit  may  have  faith,  but  his  faith 
does  not  concern  any  ideal  hopes  on  earth ;  it  has  no  outlooks 
save  upon  his  own  soul's  condition  in  the  world  to  come ; 
it  is  a  narrow,  selfish,  inoperative  thing.  As  soon  as  men 
are  grasped  by  some  moving  faith  about  what  ought  to  be 
done  for  God's  service  and  man's  welfare  here  and  now, 
a  hermit's  solitude  or  any  sort  of  unaffiliated  life  becomes  im- 
possible. They  must  combine  in  a  fellowship  of  faith  and 
of  labor  to  seek  common  ends.  They  begin  to  say  with 
Edward  Rowland  Sill,  "For  my  part  I  long  to  'fall  in'  with 
somebody.  This  picket  duty  is  monotonous.  I  hanker  after 
a  shoulder  on  this  side  and  the  other."  And  to  fall  in  with 
others  to  serve  Christian  ends  means  some  kind  of  church. 
Let  us  pray  today  for  a  church  more  fit  to  express  this  pas- 
sion to  serve. 

God,  we  pray  for  Thy  Church,  which  is  set  today  amid  the 
perplexities  of  a  changing  order,  and  face  to  face  with  a 
great  new  task.  We  remember  with  love  the  nurture  she  gave 
to  our  spiritual  life  in  its  infancy,  the  tasks  she  set  for  our 
growing  strength,  the  influence  of  the  devoted  hearts  she 
gathers,  the  steadfast  power  for  good  she  has  exerted.  When 
we  compare  her  with  all  other  hitman  institutions,  we  rejoice, 
for  there  is  none  like  her.  But  when  we  judge  her  by  the 
mind  of  her  Master,  we  bow  in  pity  and  contrition.  Oh, 
baptize  her  afresh  in  the  life-giving  spirit  of  Jesus!  Grant 
her  a  new  birth,  though  it  be  with  the  travail  of  repentance 
and  .humiliation.  Bestow  upon  her  a  more  imperious  respon- 
siveness to  duty,  a  swifter  compassion  with  suffering,  and  an 

293 


[XII-4]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

utter  loyalty  to  the  will  of  God.  Put  upon  her  lips  the 
ancient  Gospel  of  her  Lord.  Help  her  to  proclaim  boldly  the 
coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  the  doom  of  all  that 
resist  it.  Fill  her  with  the  prophet's  scorn  of  tyranny,  and 
with  a  Christ-like  tenderness  for  the  heavy-laden  and  down- 
trodden. Give  her  faith  to  espouse  the  cause  of  the  people, 
and  in  their  hands  that  grope  after  freedom  and  light  to 
recognise  the  bleeding  hands  of  the  Christ.  Bid  her  cease 
from  seeking  her  own  life,  lest  she  lose  it.  Make  her  valiant 
to  give  up  her  life  to  humanity,  that  like  her  crucified  Lord 
she  may  mount  by  the  path  of  the  cross  to  a  higher  glory. 
Amen. — Walter  Rauschenbusch. 

Twelfth  Week,  Fourth  Day 

For  the  scripture  saith,  Whosoever  believeth  on  him 
shall  not  be  put  to  shame.  For  there  is  no  distinction 
between  Jew  and  Greek:  for  the  same  Lord  is  Lord  of 
all,  and  is  rich  unto  all  that  call  upon  him:  for,  Whosoever 
shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved.  How 
then  shall  they  call  on  him  in  whom  they  have  not  be- 
lieved? and  how  shall  they  believe  in  him  whom  they  have 
not  heard?  and  how  shall  they  hear  without  a  preacher? 
and  how  shall  they  preach,  except  they  be  sent?  even  as 
it  is  written,  How  beautiful  are  the  feet  of  them  that  bring 
glad  tidings  of  good  things! — Rom.  10:  11-15. 

The  necessity  of  affiliation  for  effective  faith  is  clear  when 
one  considers  the  missionary  enterprise.  One  of  the  noblest 
qualities  in  human  life  is  our  natural  desire  to  share  our 
blessings.  Every  normal  child  is  happier  when  some  other 
child  is  joining  in  the  play;  every  lover  of  music  is  gladdened 
by  sharing  with  a  friend  enjoyment  of  a  favorite  symphony; 
save  in  singularly  churlish  folk  the  love  of  having  others 
partake  our  joys  is  spontaneous  and  hearty.  To  those  whom 
Christian  faith  has  blessed  with  hope  and  power,  the  un- 
deniable impulse  comes  to  share  these  finest  benedictions  with 
all  other  men.  The  missionary  enterprise  does  not  rest  upon 
a  text;  it  wells  up  from  one  of  the  worthiest  impulses  in  man's 
life.  One  may  be  fairly  sure,  that  save  as  some  perverted 
theology  inhibits  a  spirit  of  love,  a  man's  missionary  interest 
will  be  proportionate  to  the  reality  and  value  of  his  own 
experience.  If  he  himself  has  something  well  worth  sharing, 
he  will  want  to  share  it.  But  the  missionary  enterprise  is 

294 


THE  FELLOWSHIP  OF  FAITH          [XII-sJ 

more  than  any  individual  can  compass ;  it  demands  organi- 
zation, cooperation,  and  massed  resources ;  it  cannot  be  prose- 
cuted without  a  church.  The  further  our  thought  proceeds 
the  more  clear  it  becomes  that  the  question  is  not,  shall  we 
have  churches?  but  rather,  since  churches  are  inevitable,  of 
what  sort  shall  they  be? 

O  Thou  who  hast  made  all  nations  of  men  to  seek  Thee 
and  to  find  Thee;  bless,  we  beseech  Thee,  Thy  sons  and 
daughters  t<.7io  have  gone  forth,  into  distant  lands,  bearing 
in  their  hands  Thy  Word  of  Life.  We  rejoice  that,  touched 
with  the  enthusiasm  of  Christ,  so  many  have  consecrated 
their  UTCS  to  proclaiming  the  message  of  Thy  love  to  those 
other  sheep  of  Thine  who  are  not  of  our  fold,  that  they  may 
be  united  with  us  and  that  there  may  be  one  flock  and  one 
Shepherd.  Help  Thy  ministering  servants  to  recognise  the 
fragments  of  truth  and  goodness  that  are  ever  found  where 
men  are  sincere  and  to  claim  the^e  glimpses  of  Thyself  as 
the  prophecies  of  a  fuller  revelation.  When  discouraged  by 
the  hardness  of  their  task,  and  the  meager  fruit  of  all  their 
labor,  gire  them  faith  to  sec  the  far-off  whitening  harvest. 
Inspire  them  with  Thy  gracious  promise  that  though  the  sower 
may  go  forth  weeping,  bearing  precious  seed,  he  will  come 
again  with  joy,  bringing  his  sheaves  with  him.  Comfort  them 
in  their  e.rilc  and  loneliness  with  a  sense  of  Thy  companion- 
ship and  with  the  prayers  and  sympathy  of  their  brethren  at 
home.  Through  them  let  Thy  Word  have  free  course  and 
be  glorified.  And  so  let  Thy  Kingdom  come,  and  Thy  Will 
be  done  on  earth  as  in  Heaven,  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake. 
Amen. — Samuel  McComb. 

Twelfth  Week,  Fifth  Day 

After  this  manner  therefore  pray  ye:  Our  Father  who 
art  in  heaven,  Hallowed  be  thy  name.  Thy  kingdom 
come.  Thy  will  be  done,  as  in 'heaven,  so  on  earth.  Give 
us  this  day  our  daily  bread.  And  forgive  us  our  debts, 
as  we  also  have  forgiven  our  debtors.  And  bring  us  not 
into  temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  the  evil  one.  For  if 
ye  forgive  men  their  trespasses,  your  heavenly  Father 
will  also  forgive  you.  But  if  ye  forgive  not  men  their 
trespasses,  neither  will  your  Father  forgive  your  tres- 
passes.— Matt.  6:  9-15. 

295 


[XII-5]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

The  central  ideal  of  Christian  effort  is  set  for  us  in  the 
first  petition  of  the  Master's  prayer.  But  a  Kingdom  on 
earth,  with  God's  will  done  here  in  heavenly  fashion,  is  a 
social  idea.  It  means  not  only  right  personal  quality ;  it 
means  right  family  life,  and  economic,  political,  and  inter- 
national relationships  Christianized.  No  amount  of  fine  in- 
dividual character,  necessary  as  it  is,  will  of  itself  rectify 
the  social  maladjustments  and  inequities.  Were  everyone  as 
good  as  possible,  we  still  should  need  organized  action.  All 
parts  of  an  engine  may  be  correct,  and  yet  they  may  be  wrongly 
fitted  together.  As  it  is,  social  relations  obviously  demand 
concerted  action;  we  must  join  together  to  combat  immoral 
industrial  conditions,  to  throttle  the  liquor  traffic,  to  make 
human  fraternity  a  fact  and  not  a  dream.  The  opposition 
to  all  such  reforms  is  organized,  and  no  haphazard  attack 
will  succeed.  Now,  many  organizations  may  arise  to  serve 
special  ends  and  may  do  excellent  service  to  the  cause,  but 
what  has  proved  true  in  the  conflict  with  the  liquor  traffic, 
is  true  also  of  enterprises  for  industrial  justice  and  inter- 
national cooperation — only  when  the  churches  see  the  moral 
issue  and  put  their  power  in,  is  there  any  hope  of  victory. 
A  Christian  whose  faith  involves  the  Kingdom  sees  plainly 
that  he  cannot  go  on  without  the  Church. 

O  Lord,  we  praise  Thy  holy  name,  for  Thou  hast  made 
bare  Thine  arm  in  the  sight  of  all  nations  and  done  wonders. 
But  still  we  cry  to  Thee  in  the  weary  struggle  of  our  people 
against  the  power  of  drink.  Remember,  Lord,  the  strong  men 
who  were  led  astray  and  blighted  in  the  flower  of  their  youth. 
Remember  the  aged  who  have  brought  their  gray  hairs  to  a 
dishonored  grave.  Remember  the  homes  that  have  been  made 
desolate  of  joy,  the  wifely  love  that  has  been  outraged  in  its 
sanctuary,  the  little  children  who  have  learned  to  despise 
where  once  they  loved.  Remember,  O  Thou  great  avenger 
of  sin,  and  make  this  nation  to  remember. 

May  those  who  now  entrap  the  feet  of  the  weak  and  make 
their  living  by  the  degradation  of  men,  thrust  away  their 
shameful  gains  and  stand  clear.  But  if  their  conscience  is 
silenced  by  profit,  do  Thou  grant  Thy  people  the  indomitable 
strength  of  faith  to  make  an  end  of  it.  May  all  the  great 
churches  of  our  land  shake  off  those  who  seek  the  shelter 
of  religion  for  that  which  damns,  and  stand  with  level  front 

296 


THE  FELLOWSHIP  OF  FAITH          [XII-6] 


against  their  common  foe.  May  all  who  still  soothe  their 
souls  with  half-truths,  saying  "Peace,  peace,"  where  there 
can  be  no  peace,  learn  to  see  through  Thy  stern  eyes  and  come 
to  the  help  of  Jehovah  against  the  mighty.  Help  us  to  cast 
down  the  men  in  high  places  who  use  the  people's  powers  to 
beat  back  the  people's  hands  from  the  wrong  they  fain  would 
crush. 

O  God,  bring  nigh  the  day  when  all  our  men  shall  face 
their  daily  task  zi'ith  minds  undrugged  and  with  tempered 
passions;  when  the  unseemly  mirth  of  drink  shall  seem  a 
shame  to  all  who  hear  and  see;  when  the  trade  that  debauches 
men  shall  be  loathed  like  the  trade  that  debauches  women; 
and  when  all  this  black  remnant  of  savagery  shall  haunt  the 
memory  of  a  new  generation  but  as  gn  evil  dream  of  the 
night.  For  this  accept  our  vows,  O  Lord,  and  grant  Thine 
aid.  Amen. — Walter  Rauschenbusch. 

Twelfth  Week,  Sixth  Day 

Neither  for  these  only  do  I  pray,  but  for  them  also  that 
believe  on  me  through  their  word;  that  they  may  all  be 
one;  even  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that 
they  also  may  be  in  us:  that  the  world  may  believe  that 
thou  didst  send  me.  And  the  glory  which  thou  hast  given 
me  I  have  given  unto  them;  that  they  may  be  one,  even 
as  we  are  one;  I  in  them,  and  thou  in  me,  that  they  may 
be  perfected  into  one;  that  the  world  may  know  that  thou 
didst  send  me,  and  lovedst  them,  even  as  thou  lovedst 
me. — John  17:  20-23. 

To  the  Christian  the  Church  is  a  problem,  just  because  she 
is  a  necessity.  He  caught  his  faith  from  the  contagion  of 
her  fellowship  and  he  sees  that  if  he  is  to  serve  effectively 
the  ideals  of  Christ  a|d  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  he  must 
work  through  some  church.  But  because  the  Church  is  neces- 
sary, he  is  not  thereby  made  content  with  her.  She  is  at  once 
helping  and  hindering  the  spread  of  the  faith ;  she  is  the 
source  of  immeasurable  good  and  yet  she  is  not  "one,  that 
the  world  may  believe."  A  traveler  across  the  American 
plains  in  springtime  sees  fences,  tiresomely  prominent,  star- 
ing at  him  from  the  landscape ;  but  in  summer  when  he  re- 
turns the  fences  are  invisible.  The  wheat  and  corn  are  grow- 
ing, the  earth  is  bearing  fruit,  and  while  the  old  divisions 

297 


IXII-7]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

may  be  there,  they  all  are  hidden.  One  suspects  that  if 
Christians  everywhere  set  themselves  with  hearty  zeal  to 
bear  the  fruit  of  service  for  the  common  weal,  if  they  gave 
themselves  to  achieve  the  aims  of  Christ  for  men  with  ardor 
and  thoroughness,  the  sectarian  divisions  would  grow  un- 
imperative  and  disappear.  We  may  not  be  able  to  think  the 
disagreements  through,  but  we  may  be  able  to  work  them 
out ;  even  where  we  cannot  recite  a  common  creed,  we  can 
share  a  common  purpose.  The  War,  where  Jewish  rabbis 
have  held  crucifixes  before  the  eyes  of  dying  soldiers,  and 
where  Catholic  priests  have  met  death,  as  one  did  at  Gal- 
lipoli,  following  a  Wesleyan  chaplain — "my  Protestant  com- 
rade"— into  danger,  has  revealed  how  deeply  underneath  our 
sharp  divisions  our  spiritual  loyalties  seek  unity  when  crisis 
comes.  For  all  the  uViity  that  can  come  without  compromise 
to  conscience,  surely  the  Christian  people  are  bound  to  pray 
and  work. 

O  God,  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  our  only 
Saviour,  the  Prince  of  Peace;  give  us  grace  seriously  to 
lay  to  heart  the  great  dangers  we  are  in  by  our  unhappy 
divisions.  Take  away  all  hatred  and  prejudice,  and  whatso- 
ever else  may  hinder  us  from  godly  union  and  concord;  that 
as  there  is  but  one  body  and  one  Spirit,  and  one  hope  of  our 
calling,  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  God  and  Father 
of  us  all,  so  we  may  be  all  of  one  heart  and  of  one  soul, 
united  in  one  holy  bond  of  truth  and  peace,  of  faith  and 
charity,  and  may  with  one  mind  and  one  mouth  glorify  Thee, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Amen. — "The  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer." 

Twelfth  Week,  Seventh  Day 

For  I  am  already  being  offered,  and  the  time  of  my 
departure  is  come.  I  have  fought  the  good  fight,  I  have 
finished  the  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith:  henceforth  there 
is  laid  up  for  me  the  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the 
Lord,  the  righteous  judge,  shall  give  to  me  at  that  day; 
and  not  to  me  only,  but  also  to  all  them  that  have  loved 
his  appearing. — II  Tim.  4:  6-8. 

The  fellowship  of  faith  is  not  bounded  by  the  earth.  Paul's 
expectation  took  into  its  account  a  communion  that  far  over- 

298 


THE  FELLOWSHIP  OF  FAITH          [XII-;] 

reached  the  confines  of  temporal  experience.  The  New  Testa- 
ment believers  not  only  held  but  vividly  apprehended  that 
the  "whole  family"  to  which  they  belonged  in  Christian  com- 
munion was  "in  heaven  and  on  earth."  Their  outlook  Words- 
worth has  expressed  in  modern  words : 

"There  is 

One  great  society  alone  on  earth : 
The  noble  Living  and  the  noble  Dead." 

To  that  society  of  the  world's  prophets  and  martyrs,  seers 
and  servants,  it  may  well  be  a  man's  ambition  to  belong. 
And  that  ideal  is  not  impossible  to  anyone,  for  the  mark 
and  seal  of  their  fellowship  is  that  they  have  "kept  the ' 
faith."  When  others  despaired,  lost  heart,  and  deserted 
causes  on  which  man's  welfare  hung,  they  kept  the  faith. 
When  mysteries  perplexed  their  minds  and  discouragement, 
to  human  vision,  was  more  rational  than  hope,  they  turned 
from  sight  to  insight  and  they  kept  the  faith.  When  new 
knowledge,  half-understood,  disturbed  old  forms  of  thought 
and  multitudes  were  confused  in  uncertainty  and  disbelief, 
they  kept  the  faith.  And  they  often  came  to  their  end,  like 
Paul,  having  "suffered  the  loss  of  all  things" — yet  not  all, 
for  they  had  kept  the  faith. 

"For  all  the  saints,  who  from  their  labors  rest, 
Who  Thee  by  faith  before  the  world  confessed, 
Thy  name,  O  Jesus,  be  forever  blest, 
Alleluia ! 

O  may  Thy  soldiers,  faithful,  true,  and  bold, 
Fight  as  the  saints  who  nobly  fought  of  old, 
And  win  with  them  the  victor's  crown  of  gold, 
Alleluia ! 

O  blest  communion,  fellowship  Divine ! 
We  feebly  struggle ;  they  in  glory  shine ; 
Yet  all  are  one  in  Thee,  for  all  are  Thine. 
Alleluia  1" 

0  God,  Thou  only  Refuge  of  Thy  children!  who  remainesf 
true  though  all  else  should  fail,  and  livcst  though  all  things 
die;  cover  us  now  when  we  fly  to  Thee.  Thy  shelter  was 

299 


(XII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

around  our  fathers.  Thy  voice  called  them  away,  and  bids 
us  seek  Thee  here  till  we  depart  to  be  with  them.  In  Thy 
memory  are  the  lives  of  all  men  from  of  old.  Before  Thy 
sight  are  the  secret  hearts  of  all  the  living.  We  stand  in  awe 
of  Thy  justice  which,  since  the  ages  began,  hath  never 
changed:  and  we  cling  to  Thy  mercy  that  passeth  not  away. 

Almighty  Father,  Thou  art  a  God  afar  off  as  well  as  nigh 
at  hand.  Thou  who  in  times  past  didst  pity  the  prayers  of 
our  forerunners,  and  especially  of  that  suffering  servant  of 
Thine  whom  Thou  hast  made  our  Leader  unto  Thee!  be 
pleased  to  strengthen  us  now,  O  Lord,  to  bear  our  lighter  cross 
and  surrender  ourselves  for  duty  and  for  trial  unto  Thee. 
^Show  us  something  of  the  blessed  peace  with  which  they 
now  look  back  on  their  days  of  strong  crying  and  tears,  and 
teach  us  that  it  is  far  better  to  die  in  Thy  service  than  to  live 
for  our  own.  Rebuke  within  us  all  immoderate  desires,  all 
unquiet  temper,  all  presumptuous  expectations,  all  ignoble 
self-indulgence,  and  feeling  on  us  the  embrace  of  Thy 
Fatherly  hand,  may  we  meekly  and  with  courage  go  into  the 
darkest  ways  of  our  pilgrimage,  anxious  not  to  change  Thy 
perfect  will,  but  only  to  do  and  bear  it  worthily.  May  we 
spend  all  our  days  in  Thy  presence,  and  meet  our  death  in 
the  strength  of  Thy  grace,  and  pass  thence  into  the  nearer 
light  of  Thy  knowledge  and  love.  Amen. — John  Hunter. 


COMMENT  FOR  THE  WEEK 
I 

So  far  in  our  studies  we  have  been  dealing  with  the  indi- 
vidual believer  in  his  search  for  a  reasonable  faith.  But  we 
must  face  at  last  what  from  the  beginning  has  been  true,  that 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  an  individual  believer.  All  faiths 
are  social.  However  little  we  may  be  aware  of  each  other's 
influence,  however  intangible  the  social  forces  which  shape  the 
convictions  by  which  we  live,  no  man  builds  or  keeps  his 
faiths  alone.  We  may  pride  ourselves  on  our  independent 
thought,  but  the  fact  remains  as  Prof.  William  James  has 
stated  it :  "Our  faith  is  faith  in  some  one  else's  faith,  and  in 
the  greatest  matters  this  is  most  the  case." 

The  realm  of  religious  conviction  is  not  the  only  place 
300 


THE  FELLOWSHIP  OF  FAITH          [XII-c] 

where  we  hold  with  a  strong  sense  of  personal  possession 
what  has  been  given  us  by  others,  and  often  forget  to  ac- 
knowledge our  indebtedness.  We  believe  in  democracy  and 
popular  education,  not  because  by  some  gift  of  individual 
genius  we  are  wiser  than  our  unbelieving  sires,  but  because, 
in  the  advance  of  the  race,  that  faith  has  been  wrought  out  by 
many  minds,  and,  with  minute  addition  of  our  own  thought, 
we  share  the  general  conviction.  As  a  man  considers  how  rich 
and  varied  are  the  faiths  he  holds,  how  few  of  them  he  ever 
has  thought  through  or  ever  can,  and  how  helpless  he  would 
be,  if  he  were  set  from  the  beginning  to  create  any  one  of 
them,  he  gains  new  insight  into  Paul's  words,  "What  hast 
thou  that  thou  didst  not  receive?  but  if  thou  didst  receive  it, 
why  dost  thou  glory  as  if  thou  hadst  not  received  it?" 
(I  Cor.  4:7). 

Indeed,  this  same  truth  holds  in  every  relationship.  Nothing 
is  more  impossible  than  a  "self-made  man."  In  no  realm  can 
that  common  phrase  be  intelligently  applied  to  anyone.  If  in 
business  one  has  risen  from  poverty  to  wealth,  he  has  used 
railroads  that  he  did  not  invent  and  telephones  that  he  does 
not  even  understand ;  he  has  built  his  business  on  a  credit 
system  for  which  he  did  not  labor  and  whose  moral  basis 
has  been  laid  in  the  ethical  struggles  of  unnumbered  genera- 
tions. For  the  cfothes  he  wears,  the  food  he  eats,  the  educa- 
tion he  receives,  he  is  debtor  to  a  social  life  that  taps  the  ends 
of  the  earth  and  that  has  cost  blood  not  his  and  money  which 
he  never  can  repay.  If  granting  this,  a  man  still  say,  "My 
power  and  the  might  of  my  hand  hath  gotten  me  this  wealth" 
(Deut.  8:17),  he  may  well  consider  whence  his  power  has 
come.  His  distant  ancestors  stalked  through  primeval  for- 
ests, their  brows  sloped  back,  their  hairy  hides  barren  of 
clothes,  and  in  their  hands  stone  hatchets,  by  the  aid  of  which 
they  sought  their  food.  What  has  this  Twentieth  Century- 
boaster  done  to  change  the  habits  of  the  Stone  Age  to  the 
civilization  on  which  his  wealth  is  based  or  to  elevate  man's 
intellect  to  the  grasp  and  foresight  of  the  modern  business 
world?  All  the  power  by  which  he  wins  his  way  is  clearly  a 
social  gift,  and  any  contribution  which  he  may  add  is  infini- 
tesimal compared  with  his  receipts. 

By  this  truth  all  declarations  of  individual  independence 
need  to  be  chastened  and  controlled  and  all  boasting  cancelled 
utterly.  Normal  minds  have  their  times  of  self-assertion  in 

301 


[XII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

religion,  when  they  grow  impatient  of  believing  anything 
simply  because  they  have  been  told.  As  a  college  Junior  put 
it :  "I  must  clear  the  universe  of  God,  and  then  start  in  at  the 
beginning  to  see  what  I  can  find."  But  to  assert  a  reasonable 
independence  ought  not  to  mean  that  one  cut  himself  off 
from  the  support  of  history,  the  accumulated  experience  of 
the  race,  the  insight  of  the  seers,  and  in  unassisted  isolation 
walk,  like  Kipling's  cat,  "by  his  wild  lone."  No  man  can  do 
that  anywhere  and  still  succeed.  Imagine  a  man,  in  politics, 
dubious  of  his  old  affiliations  and  disturbed  by  the  conflicting 
opinions  of  his  day.  If,  so  perplexed,  he  should  throw  over 
all  that  ever  had  been  thought  or  done  in  civic  life,  and  in  an 
unaided  individual  adventure  attempt  out  of  his  own  mind  to 
constitute  a  state,  in  what  utter  confusion  would  he  land!  No 
mind  can  begin  work  as  though  it  were  the  first  mind  that  ever 
acted,  or  were  the  only  mind  in  action  now.  All  effective 
thinking  is  social ;  contributions  from  innumerable  heads 
pour  in  to  make  a  wise  man's  knowledge.  And  to  suppose  that 
any  man  can  climb  the  steep  ascent  of  heaven  all  alone  and 
lay  his  hands  comprehensively  on  the  Eternal  is  preposterous. 
No  one  ever  apprehended  a  science  so,  much  less  God !  Even 
Jesus  "fed  his  soul  on  the  prophets  of  his  race. 

II 

Indeed,  Jesus'  attitude  toward  the  fellowship  of  faith  is 
most  revealing,  seen  against  the  background  of  his  nation's 
history.  In  the  beginning,  there  was  in  Israel  no  such  thing  as 
individual  religion.  In  the  earliest  strata  of  the  Bible's  revela- 
tion, we  find  no  indication  of  a  faith  that  brought  God  and 
each  of  his  people  into  intimate  relationships.  Jehovah  was 
the  God  of  the  nation  as  a  whole  and  not  of  the  people  one 
by  one.  When  he  spoke,  he  spoke  to  the  community  through 
a  leader ;  "Speak  thou  with  us  and  we  will  hear,"  the  people 
cried  to  Moses,  "but  let  not  God  speak  with  us  lest  we  die" 
(Exodus  20:  19).  It  was  at  the  time  of  the  Exile,  when  the 
nation  fell  in  ruins,  and  the  hearts  of  faithful  Jews  were 
thrown  back  one  by  one  on  God  that  individual  trust,  peace, 
joy,  and  confidence  found  utterance.  It  was  Jeremiah  (Chap. 
31)  and  Ezekiel  (Chap.  18)  who  saw  men  individually  re- 
sponsible to  God,  and  who  opened  the  way  for  loyal  Jews  to 
be  his  people  even  when  the  nation  was  no  more.  And  what 

302 


THE  FELLOWSHIP  OF  FAITH          [XII-c] 

they  began  Jesus  completed.  He  lifted  up  the  individual  and 
made  each  man  the  object  of  the  Father's  care.  "It  is  not  the 
will  of  your  Father  .  .  .  that  one  of  these  little  ones  should 
perish"  (Matt.  18:  14).  "What  man  of  you,  having  a  hundred 
sheep,  and  having  lost  one  of  them  .  .  ."  (Luke  15:4). 
"The  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered"  (Matt. 
10:30).  As  for  religion's  inner  meaning,  it  became  in  Jesus' 
Gospel  not  a  national  ritual  but  a  private  faith :  "But  thou, 
when  thou  prayest,  enter  into  thine  inner  chamber,  and  hav- 
ing shut  thy  door,  pray  to  thy  Father  who  is  in  secret" 
(Matt.  6:6). 

While  Jesus,  however,  so  emphasized  the  inward,  individual 
aspects  of  religion,  he  did  not  leave  it  there,  as  though  per- 
sons could  ever  be  like  jugs  in  the  rain,  separate  receptacles 
that  share  neither  their  emptiness  nor  their  abundance.  He 
bound  his  disciples  into  a  fellowship.  He  joined  their 
channels  until,  like  interflowing  streams,  one  contributed  to 
all  and  the  spirit  of  all  was  expressed  in  each.  He  braided 
them  into  friendship  with  himself  and  with  each  other,  so 
close  that  the  community  did  what  no  isolated  believer  ever 
could  have  done — it  survived  the  shock  of  the  crucifixion,  the 
agony  of  sustained  persecution,  the  frailties  of  its  members, 
and  the  discouragements  of  its  campaign.  On  that  group  the 
Master  counted  for  his  work:  "The  gates  of  Hades  shall  not 
prevail  against  it"  (Matt.  16:  18).  And  when  the  Xew  Testa- 
ment Church  emerged,  the  fellowship  which  Christ  himself 
had  breathed  into  it  was  clear  and  strong.  Men  who  became 
Christians,  in  the  Xew  Testament,  came  into  a  new  relation- 
ship with  God  indeed,  but  into  a  new  human  fraternity  as  well. 
They  were  "builded  together  for  a  habitation  of  God  through 
the  Spirit"  (Eph.  2:22),  and  even  when  death  came  that  fel- 
lowship was  not  destroyed.  They  were  still  "the  whole 
family  in  heaven  and  on  earth"  (Eph.  3:15).  John  Wesley 
was  right:  "The  Bible  knows  nothing  of  a  solitary  religion." 
In  the  Old  Testament  religion  was  predominantly  national ; 
in  the  New  Testament,  individuals  rejoicing  in  the  "Beloved 
Community"  could  not  describe  their  life  without  the  reitera- 
ton  of  "one  another."  They  were  to  "pray  one  for  another" 
and  "confess  sins  one  to  another"  (James  5 :  16)  ;  they  were 
to  "love  one  another"  (I  Pet.  1:22),  "exhort  one  another" 
(Heb.  3:13),  "comfort  one  another"  (I  Thess.  4:18);  they 
were  to  "bear  one  another's  burdens"  (Gal.  6:2)  and  in  com- 

303 


[XII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

munal  worship  "admonish  one  another  with  psalms  and  hymns 
and  spiritual  songs  "  (Col.  3:  16). 

So  when  they  thought  of  their  faith,  they  never  held  it  in 
solitary  confidence ;  they  were  "strong  to  apprehend  with  all 
the  saints  what  is  the  breadth  and  length  and  height  and 
depth,  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowl- 
edge" (Eph.  3:18). 

Ill 

When  a  modern  believer  endeavors  to  interpret  this  spirit 
in  the  New  Testament  in  terms  of  his  own  wants,  he  sees  at 
once  that  he  needs  fellowship  for  the  enriching  of  his  faith. 
Cooperation  for  achievement  is  a  modern  commonplace,  but 
when  Paul  prayed,  as  we  have  quoted  him,  that  the  Ephesians 
might  be  "strong  to  apprehend  with  all  the  saints,"  he  was 
stating  the  more  uncommon  proposition  that  men-  must  co- 
operate for  knowledge.  He  saw  the  divine  love  in  its  length, 
breadth,  depth,  and  height  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  a 
solitary  man  endeavoring  to  understand  it.  Impossible !  said 
Paul ;  the  divine  love  in  its  fulness  cannot  be  known  in  soli- 
tude, it  must  be  apprehended  in  fellowship. 

At  first  nothing  seems  more  strictly  individual  than  knowl- 
edge. To  know  is  an  intimate,  personal  affair ;  it  cannot  be 
carried  on  by  proxy.  But  even  casual  thought  at  once  makes 
clear  that  in  solitude  we  cannot  know  even  the  physical  uni- 
verse. No  man  can  go  apart  and  through  the  narrow  aperture 
of  his  own  mind  see  the  full  round  of  truth.  For  astronomers 
study  the  stars,  geologists  the  rocks,  chemists  know  their  spe- 
cial field  and  physicists  know  theirs ;  each  scientist  under- 
stands in  part,  and  if  one  is  to  know  the  breadth  and  length 
and  height  and  depth  of  the  physical  world  he  must  be  strong 
to  apprehend  with  all  the  scientists. 

In  religion  this  necessity  of  cooperation  in  knowing  God 
may  not  at  first  seem  evident.  In  the  secret  session  behind 
closed  doors,  as  Jesus  said,  one  finds  his  clearest  thought  of 
God,  and  in  the  individual  heart  the  divine  illumination  comes. 
So  some  insist ;  and  the  answer  does  not  deny,  but  surpasses 
the  truth  in  the  insistence.  Js  yours  the  only  heart  where 
God  is  to  be  found?  Does  the  sea  of  his  grace  exhaust  itself 
in  zt'hat  it  can  reveal  in  your  bay?  Rather,  in  how  many 
different  ways  men  come  to  God,  how  various  their  experi- 

304 


THE  FELLOWSHIP  OF  FAITH          [XII-c] 

ences  of  him,  and  how  much  each  needs  the  rest  for  breadth 
and  catholicity  of  view! 

One  man  comes  to  God  by  way  of  intellectual  perplexity 
and  he  knows  chiefly  faith's  illumination  of  life's  puzzling 
problems;  another  comes  through  the  experience  of  sin  and  he 
responds  to  such  a  phrase  as  "God  our  Saviour"  (I  Tim. 
i  :  i )  ;  another  comes  to  God  through  trouble  and  has  found 
in  faith  "eternal  comfort  and  good  hope  through  grace"  (II 
Thess.  2:  16)  ;  and  another  by  way  of  a  happy  life  has  found 
in  God  the  object  of  devoted  gratitude.  One,  a  mystic,  finds 
God  in  solitary  prayer ;  another,  a  worker,  knows  him  chiefly 
as  the  Divine  Ally.  Some  are  very  young  and  have  a  child's 
religion ;  some  are  at  the  summit  of  their  years  and  have  a 
strong  man's  achieving  faith ;  and  some  are  old  and  are 
familiar  with  the  face  of  death  and  the  thought  of  the  eternal. 
How  multiform  is  man's  experience  of  God!  Some  composi- 
tions cannot  be  interpreted  by  a  solo.  Let  the  first  violinist 
play  with  what  skill  he  can,  he  alone  is  not  adequate  to  the 
endeavor.  There  must  be  an  orchestra ;  the  oboes  and  viols, 
the  drums  and  trumpets,  the  violins  and  cellos  must  all  be 
there.  So  faith  in  God  is  too  rich  and  manifold  to  be  in- 
terpreted by  individuals  alone;  a  fellowship  is  necessary. 
Even  Paul,  in  one  of  his  most  gloriously  mixed-up  and  yet 
revealing  sentences,  prays  for  fellowship  that  his  faith  may 
be  enriched :  "I  long  to  see  you,  that  I  may  impart  unto  you 
some  spiritual  gift,  to  the  end  ye  may  be  established;  that  is, 
that  I  with  you  may  be  comforted  in  you,  each  of  us  by  the 
other's  faith,  both  yours  and  mine"  (Rom.  1:11,  12). 

Poverty  of  faith,  therefore,  is  not  due  only  to  individual 
lapses  of  character  and  perplexities  of  mind;  if  is  due  to 
ncijlcct  of  Christian  fellowship.  One  who  with  difficulty  has 
clung  to  his  slender  experience  of  God,  goes  up  to  the  church 
on  Sunday.  Even  though  it  be  a  humble  place  of  prayer,  if 
the  worship  is  genuine,  the  hymns,  the  prayers,  the  Scriptures 
gather  up  the  testimony  of  centuries  to  the  reality  of  God. 
Here  David  speaks  again  and  Isaiah  answers ;  here  Paul 
reaffirms  his  faith  and  John  is  confident  that  God  is  love. 
Here  the  saints  before  Christ  cry,  "Jehovah  is  my  rock,  and  my 
fortress,  and  my  deliverer"  (Psalm  18:2),  and  the  sixteenth 
century  answers,  "A  mighty  fortress  is  our  God" ;  and  the 
nineteenth  century  replies,  "How  firm  a  foundation,  ye  saints 
of  the  Lord !"  We  go  up  to  the  church  finding  it  hard  to  sing, 

305 


[XII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

"My  Jesus,  7  love  thee,  /  know  thou  art  mine" ;  we  go  down 
with  a  Te  Deum  in  our  hearts : 

"The  glorious  company  of  the  apostles  praise  thee; 
The  goodly  fellowship  of  the  prophets  praise  thee; 
The  noble  army  of  martyrs  praise  thee ; 

The  holy  Church  throughout  all  the  world  doth  acknowledge 
thee." 

In  the  rich  and  varied  faiths  of  the  Church  we  find  a  far 
more  fruitful  relationship  with  God  than  by  ourselves  we  ever 
could  have  gained.  Without  such  an  enriching  experience 
men  can  only  with  difficulty  keep  faith  alive.  Twigs  that  snap 
out  of  the  camp-fire  lose  their  flame  and  fall,  charred  sticks ; 
but  put  them  back  and  they  will  burn  again,  for  fire  springs 
from  fellowship.  Amiel,  after  an  evening  of  solitude  with  a 
favorite  book  on  philosophy,  wrote  what  is  many  a  Christian's 
prayer :  "Still  I  miss  something — common  worship,  a  positive 
religion,  shared  with  other  people.  Ah !  when  will  the  church 
to  which  I  belong  in  heart  rise  into  being?  I  cannot,  like 
Scherer,  content  myself  with  being  in  the  right  all  alone. 
I  must  have  a  less  solitary  Christianity." 

IV 

Men  need  fellowship,  not  only  for  the  enrichment  ot  their 
faith,  but  for  its  stability.  No  man  can  successfully  believe 
anything  all  alone.  Let  an  opinion  in  any  realm  be  denied, 
despised,  neglected  by  common  consent  of  men,  and  not  easily 
do  we  hold  an  unshaken  conviction  of  its  truth.  But  let  it 
agreed  with,  supported  and  endorsed  by  many,  especially 
by  men  of  insight,  and  with  each  additional  testimony  to  its 
truth  our  faith  grows  confident.  A  fundamental  experience 
of  man  is  that  his  faiths  are  socially  confirmed. 

Authority  of  some  sort,  therefore,  never  is  outgrown  in  any 
province  of  knowledge,  and  strugglers  after  faith  have  solid 
right  to  the  sustenance  which  it  can  give.  For  one  thing  the 
authority  of  the  expert  is  acknowledged  everywhere.  When 
a  great  astronomer  speaks  about  the  stars,  most  of  us  put  our 
hands  upon  our  mouths  and  humble  ourselves  to  listen.  If  in 
science,  expert  knowledge  has  this  authority — not  artificial, 
infallible,  and  externally  enforced,  but  vital,  serviceable,  and 

306 


THE  FELLOWSHIP  OF  FAITH         [XII-c] 

real — how  much  more  in  realms  where  insight  and  spiritual 
quality  are  indispensable  1  Such  authority  comes  in  the  spirit 
of  Paul:  "Not  that  we  have  lordship  over  your  faith,  but  are 
helpers  of  your  joy"  (II  Cor.  1:24). 

An  amateur  stands  before  a  picture  like  Turner's  "The 
Building  of  Carthage"  and  either  does  not  notice  the  details, 
or  noticing  sees  no  special  meaning  there.  But  when  Ruskin, 
Turner's  seer,  begins  to  speak — how  wonderful  the  children  in 
the  foreground  sailing  toy  boats  in  a  pool,  prophecy  of 
Carthage's  future  greatness  on  the  sea ! — one  by  one  the 
details  take  fire  and  glow  with  meaning  as  our  eyes  are 
opened.  Such  is  the  service  of  a  real  authority.  It  does  not, 
as  Weigel  says,  put  out  a  person's  eye  and  then  try  to  persuade 
him  to  see  with  some  one  else's.  It  rather  cures  our  blindness 
and  enables  us  to  see  what  by  ourselves  we  were  incapable  of 
seeing.  Christ  supremely,  when  allowed  to  be  himself,  has 
helped  men  thus.  He  has  not  oppressed  the  mind  with  bur- 
densome authority,  denying  us  our  right  to  think.  He  has 
come  appealing  to  our  little  insight  with  his  own  clear  vision, 
"Why  even  of  yourselves  judge  ye  not  what  is  right?"  (Luke 
12:57).  Things  which  we  see  dimly  he  has  clarified;  things 
which  we  did  not  see  at  all,  he  has  made  manifest.  He  has 
been  what  he  called  himself,  the  Light,  and  his  people  have 
said  of  him  what  the  man  in  John's  ninth  chapter  said. 
"He  opened  mine  eyes"  (John  9:30).  A  struggler  after  faith 
may  well  count  among  his  assets  the  insight  of  the  seers  and 
of  the  Seer.  As  another  states  it:  "Our  weak  faith  may  at 
times  be  permitted  to  look  through  the  eyes  of  some  strong 
soul,  and  may  thereby  gain  a  sense  of  the  certainty  of  spirit- 
ual things  which  before  we  had  not." 

Beside  the  authority  of  the  seers,  there  is  the  authority  of 
racial  experience,  to  which  indeed  no  mind  ought  slavishly  to 
subject  itself,  but  from  which  all  minds  ought  to  gain  insight 
and  confidence.  Tradition  has  done  us  much  disservice.  Op- 
pressions that  might  long  before  have  been  outgrown  have 
been  counted  holy  because  they  were  hoary.  There  must  be 
something  to  commend  an  opinion  or  a  custom  beside  its  age, 
and  all  progress  depends  upon  recognizing  that 

"Time  makes  ancient  good  uncouth." 

But  if  out  of  the  past  have  come  evils  to  be  overthrown,  out 
of  the  past  also  have  come  the  best  possessions  of  the  race. 

307 


[XII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

"Traditional"  has  grown  to  be  an  adjective  of  ill  repute;  it 
signifies  in  common  parlance  the  inheritance  of  oppressive 
ideals  and  institutions  that  hold  the  "dead  hand"  over  hopes 
of  progress.  But  our  best  music  also,  our  poetry,  and  our 
art  are  traditional ;  the  discoveries  of  our  scientists  on  the 
long  road  from  alchemy  to  chemistry,  from  magic  to  physics 
are  traditional ;  all  that  each  new  generation  begins  with, 
fitted  out  like  the  well-favored  child  of  a  provident  father,  is 
traditional.  No  one  can  describe  the  utter  barrenness  of  life, 
if  we  could  not  build  on  the  accumulations  of  our  sires,  using 
the  result  of  their  toil  as  the  basis  of  our  work,  their  hardly 
won  wisdom  as  our  guide.  To  discount  anything  because  it 
is  traditional  is  to  discount  everything,  except  that  com- 
paratively minute  addition  which  each  new  generation  makes 
to  the  slowly  accumulating  wisdom  and  wealth  of  the  race. 
As  Mr.  Chesterton  has  put  it :  "Tradition  may  be  defined  as 
the  extension  of  the  franchise.  Tradition  means  giving  votes 
to  the  most  obscure  of  all  classes,  our  ancestors.  It  is  the 
democracy  of  the  dead.  Tradition  refuses  to  submit  to  the 
small  and  arrogant  oligarchy  of  those  who  merely  happen  to 
be  walking  about.  All  democrats  object  to  men  being  dis- 
qualified by  the  accident  of  birth;  tradition  objects  to  their 
being  disqualified  by  the  accident  of  death.  Democracy  tells 
us  not  to  neglect  a  good  man's  opinion,  even  if  he  is  our 
groom ;  tradition  asks  us  not  to  neglect  a  good  man's  opinion, 
even  if  he  is  our  father." 

Now  racial  experience  is  dubious  at  many  points  and  at  very 
few  does  it  approach  finality.  But  on  one  matter  it  speaks 
with  a  unanimity  that  is  nothing  short  of  absolute.  Man  can- 
not live  without  religion — like  the  earth  beneath  the  mountain 
peaks  this  universal  experience  of  the  race  underlies  the  spe- 
cial insights  of  the  seers.  When  during  the  mid-Victorian  dis- 
comfiture of  faith  at  the  first  disclosures  of  the  new  science, 
Tennyson's  "In  Memoriam"  appeared,  Prof.  Sidgwick  wrote 
of  it,  "What  'In  Memoriam'  did  for  us,  for  me  at  least  in 
this  struggle,  was  to  impress  on  us  the  ineffable  and  irradi- 
cable  conviction  that  humanity  will  not  and  cannot  acquiesce 
in  a  godless  world."  That  conviction  is  confirmed  by  the 
whole  experience  of  the  race.  To  be  sure  religion,  like  love, 
exists  in  all  degrees.  From  degraded  lust  to  the  relationship 
of  Robert  Browning  and  Elizabeth  Barrett,  love  is  infinite  in 
variety;  it  takes  its  quality  from  the  character  of  those  whom 

308 


THE  FELLOWSHIP  OF  FAITH          [XII-c] 

it  affects;  yet  through  all  its  changes  it  is  itself  so  built  into 
the  structure  of  mankind,  that  though  there  be  loveless  indi- 
viduals, life  as  a  whole  is  unimaginable  without  it.  So  reli- 
gion runs  the  gamut  of  human  quality.  In  a  Hindu  idolater  it 
performs  disgusting  rites  to  placate  an  angry  god,  and  in 
Rabindranath  Tagore  it  cries:  "If  thou  speakest  not  I  will 
fill  my  heart  with  thy  silence  and  endure  it.  I  will  keep  still 
and  wait  like  the  night  with  starry  vigil  and  its  head  bent 
low  with  patience.  The  morning  will  surely  come,  the  dark- 
ness will  vanish,  and  thy  voice  pour  down  in  golden  streams, 
breaking  through  the  sky."  In  Torquemada  it  is  cruel ;  in 
Father  Damien  it  becomes  a  passion  for  saviorhood.  Reli- 
gion helped  Sennacherib  to  his  campaigns  and  Isaiah  to  his 
prophecies ;  it  preached  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  and  it 
dragged  Jesus  before  Pilate.  Can  the  same  spring  send 
forth  sweet  water  and  bitter?  But  religion  does  it,  for 
religion  is  life  motived  by  visions  of  God;  it  is  tremendous 
in  strength,  but  with  man's  unequal  power  to  understand 
the  Divine,  it  is  ambiguous  in  quality.  Like  electricity,  it 
is  magnificent  in  blessing  or  terrible  in  curse.  Yet  through 
all  its  degrees  man's  relationship  with  the  Invisible  is  so 
essentially  a  part  of  his  humanity  that  lacking  it  he  has 
never  yet  been  discovered,  and  without  it  he  cannot  be  con- 
ceived. It  was  this  impressive  witness  of  racial  experience 
that  made  John  Fiske,  of  Harvard,  say,  "Of  all  the  implica- 
tions of  the  doctrine  of  evolution  with  regard  to  man,  I  be- 
lieve the  very  deepest  and  strongest  to  be  that  which  asserts 
the  Everlasting  Reality  of  Religion." 

This  testimony  of  the  spiritual  seers  and  this  cumulative 
experience  of  the  race  have  a  right  to  play  a  weighty  part  in 
any  consideration  of  religious  faith.  Even  a  rebellious  youth 
might  pause  before  he  scoffs  at  a  mature  and  thoughtful 
mind,  letting  his  Church,  his  Scripture,  and  his  Christ  speak 
impressively  to  him  about  the  reality  of  God.  What  we  all  do 
in  every  other  realm,  when  we  are  wise,  this  mind  is  doing 
in  religion.  His  individual  grasp  on  truth  he  sets  in  the  per- 
spective of  history.  He  does  not  feel  himself  upon  a  lonely 
quest  when  he  seeks  God ;  rather  he  feels  behind  him  and 
around  him  the  race  of  which  he  is  a  part  and  which  never  yet 
has  ceased  to  believe  in  the  Divine,  and  he  sees  his  own 
insights  illumined  by  those  supreme  spirits  who  have  talked 
with  God  "as  a  man  talketh  with  his  friend."  He  knows  as 

309 


[XII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

well  as  any  youth  that  authority  has  been  stereotyped  in 
theories  of  artificial  infallibility,  to  which  no  mature  mind 
for  a  moment  can  weakly  surrender  its  right  to  think,  but  he 
refuses  to  give  up  a  real  authority  because  some  have  held  a 
false  one.  The  authority  of  the  dictionary  is  one  thing — 
literal  and  external.  But  the  authority  of  a  good  mother 
moves  on  a  different  plane.  It  is  not  artificial  and  oppressive. 
It  is  vital  and  inspiring.  She  has  lived  longer,  experienced 
more  than  her  children ;  she  is  wiser,  better,  more  discerning 
than  they.  A  man  who  has  had  experience  of  great  mother- 
hood comes  to  feel  that  if  his  mother  thinks  something  very 
strongly  and  very  persistently,  he  would  better  consider  that 
thing  well,  for  the  chances  are  overwhelming  that  there  is 
truth  in  it.  How  much  more  shall  he  feel  so  about  the  age- 
long experience  of  the  saints  with  God  1  In  this  respect  at 
least  there  still  is  truth  in  Cyprian's  words,  "He  that  hath 
God  for  his  Father,  hath  the  Church  for  his  Mother." 


Faith  needs  fellowship  not  alone  for  enrichment  and  sta- 
bility, but  for  expression.  For  faith,  as  from  the  beginning 
we  have  maintained,  is  not  an  effortless  acceptance  of  ideas 
or  personal  relationships;  it  is  an  active  appropriation  of  con- 
victions that  drive  life,  and  Christian  faith  especially  has 
always  involved  a  campaign  whose  object  is  the  saving  of  the 
world.  Such  an  expression  of  religious  life  involves  coopera- 
tion ;  men  cannot  effectively  support  the  "work  of  faith" 
(I  Thess.  1:3)  apart  from  fellowship. 

The  necessity  for  this  cooperative  expression  of  religion  is 
clear  when  we  consider  the  one  in  whom  we  believe.  How 
anyone  can  expect  in  solitude  to  believe  in  Christ  is  a  mystery. 
For  Christ,  with  overflowing  love  to  those  who  shared  his 
filial  fellowship  with  God,  said,  "No  longer  do  I  call  you  ser- 
vants ...  I  have  called  you  friends"  (John  15 : 15)  ;  his 
care  encompassed  folk  who  never  heard  of  him  and  whom 
he  never  saw,  "Other  sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of  this  fold: 
them  also  I  must  bring  .  .  .  and  they  shall  become  one 
flock,  one  shepherd"  (John  10:16);  and  beyond  his  genera- 
tion's life  his  love  reached  out  to  followers  yet  unborn,  "Them 
also  that  believe  on  me  through  their  word"  (John  17:20). 
Whatever  other  quality  a  movement  sprung  from  such  a 

310 


THE  FELLOWSHIP  OF  FAITH          [XII-c] 

source  may  possess,  it  must  be  social.  Moreover,  Jesus'  faith 
was  active;  the  meaning  of  it  he  himself  disclosed,  "All  things 
are  possible  to  him  that  believeth"  (Mark  9:23).  In  such 
a  spirit,  both  by  himself  and  through  his  followers,  he  sought 
the  lost,  healed  the  sick,  preached  the  Gospel,  and  expectantly 
proclaimed  an  earth  transformed  to  heaven.  Such  a  character 
cannot  be  known  in  contemplation  under  the  trees  in  June  or 
through  the  pages  of  an  interesting  book.  If  Garibaldi, 
leading  his  men  to  the  liberation  of  Italy,  had  found  a  devotee 
who  said,  I  believe  in  you ;  I  love  to  read  your  deeds,  and 
often  in  my  solitary,  meditative  hours  I  am  cheered  by  the 
thought  of  you — one  can  easily  imagine  the  swift  and  pene- 
trating answer !  That  you  believe  in  me  is  false ;  no  one  be- 
lieves in  me  who  does  not  share  my  purpose ;  the  army  is 
afoot,  great  business  is  ahead,  the  cause  is  calling,  he  who  be- 
lieves follows.  Such  a  spirit  was  Christ's.  The  hermits, 
whether  of  old  time  in  their  cells,  or  of  modern  time  with 
their  unaffiliated  lives,  are  wrong.  The  final  test  of  faith  in 
Christ  is  fellowship  in  ii'ork. 

The  Church  itself  has  been  to  blame  for  much  undedicated 
faith.  Correctness  of  opinion  has  been  substituted,  as  a  test, 
for  fidelity  of  life.  "Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and 
thou  shalt  be  saved,"  has  been  interpreted  to  mean :  accept  a 
theory  about  Christ's  person  and  all  is  well.  But  one  need 
only  go  back  in  imagination  to  the  time  when  first  that 
formula  was  used  to  see  how  vital  was  its  import.  To  believe 
in  Christ  then  meant  to  accept  a  despised  religion,  to  break 
ties  that  men  value  more  than  life,  to  face  the  certainty  of 
contempt  and  the  risk  of  violence.  To  believe  in  Christ  then 
meant  coming  out  from  old  relationships  and  going  to  a  sect 
where  one  was  pilloried  with  derision,  that  one  might  work 
for  the  things  which  Christ  represents.  No  one  did  that  as 
a  theory ;  it  required  a  tremendous  thrust  of  the  will,  a  de- 
cision that  reached  to  the  roots  of  life.  All  this  was  involved 
in  believing  on  Christ,  and  our  decent  holding  of  a  theory 
about  him,  in  a  time  when  all  lips  praise  him,  is  a  poor  sub- 
stitute for  such  vital  faith.  John  tells  us  that  once  a  multitude 
of  Jews  professed  belief  in  Jesus,  but  the  Master,  hearing 
their  affirmations,  saw  the  superficial  meaning  there.  "Many 
believed  on  his  name,"  says  John — "but  Jesus  did  not  trust 
himself  unto  them"  (John  2:  23,  24).  How  many  believe  in 
Christ  in  such  a  way  that  he  cannot  believe  in  them!  They 


[XII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

forget  that  while  the  test  of  a  man  is  his  faith,  the  test  of 
faith  is  faithfulness.  An  apostolic  injunction  needs  modern 
enforcement,  "that  they  who  have  believed  God  may  be  care- 
ful to  maintain  good  works"  (Titus  3:8). 

The  necessity  for  a  cooperative  expression  of  religion  is 
evident  again  in  the  truth  which  we  believe.  Take  in  its 
simplest  form  the  Gospel  which  Christianity  presents,  that 
God  is  in  earnest  about  personality,  and  what  urgency  is  there 
for  associated  work!  For  personality  is  being  ruined  in  this 
world.  False  ideas  of  life,  idolatry  whether  to  fetishes  in 
Africa  or  to  money  here,  irreligion  in  all  its  manifold  and 
blighting  forms,  are  destroying  personality  from  within,  and 
from  without  sweatshops,  tenements,  war,  the  liquor  traffic, 
industrial  inequity,  are  engaged  in  the  same  task  of  ruin. 
The  common  contrast  between  individual  and  social  Chris- 
tianity is  superficial.  The  one  thing  for  which  the  Chris- 
tian cares  is  personal  life,  and  in  its  culture  and  salvation  he 
sees  the  aim  of  God  and  Godlike  men.  Whatever,  therefore, 
affects  that  is  his  concern,  and  what  is  there  that  does  not 
affect  it?  What  men  believe  about  life's  meaning  and  its 
destiny  strikes  to  the  core  of  personal  life,  and  the  houses 
in  which  men  live,  the  conditions  under  which  they  work,  the 
wages  that  they  are  paid,  and  th_  environments  which  sur- 
round their  plastic  childhood — these,  too,  mould  for  good  or 
ill  the  fortunes  of  personality. 

The  Christian,  therefore,  who  intelligently  holds  the  faith 
that  he  professes  cannot  be  negligent  either  of  evangelism, 
education,  and  missionary  enterprise  upon  the  one  side,  or  of 
social  reformation  on  the  other.  These  are  two  ends  of  the 
tunnel  by  which  the  Gospel  seeks  to  open  out  a  way  for  per- 
sonality to  find  its  freedom.  A  man  who  says  that  he  believes 
in  Jesus  Christ,  and  yet  is  complacent  about  child  labor  and 
commercialized  vice,  poor  housing  conditions  and  unjust 
wages,  the  trade  in  liquor  and  the  butchery  of  men  in  war, 
stands  in  peril  of  hearing  the  twenty-third  chapter  of 
Matthew's  gospel  brought  up  to  date  for  his  especial  benefit 
by  the  same  lips  that  spoke  it  first.  The  indignation  pf  the 
Master  falls  on  priests  and  Levites  who,  speeding  to  the 
temple  service,  "pass  by  on  the  other  side"  the  victims  of  social 
injury. 

Isolated  Christians,  however,  cannot  further  this  campaign 
for  personality  redeemed  from  inward  ills  and  outward  handi- 

312 


THE  FELLOWS-HIP  OF  FAITH          [XII-c] 

caps.  Evil  is  organized,  and  goodness  must  be,  too.  As  wisely' 
would  a  single  patriot  shoulder  a  rifle  and  set  out  for  France 
as  would  an  unaffiliated  Christian  set  his  solitary  strength 
against  the  massed  evil  of  the  world.  Men  increase  effec- 
tiveness by  a  large  per  cent  through  fellowship,  as  ancient  He- 
brews saw :  "Five  of  you  shall  chase  a  hundred,  and  a  hun- 
dred of  you  shall  chase  ten  thousand"  (Lev.  26:8). 

VI 

Many  secondary  fellowships  offer  to  a  Christian  opportunity 
for  associated  service ;  no  cooperative  endeavor  to  make  this 
a  better  world  for  God  to  rear  his  children  in  should  lack 
Christian  sympathy  and  support.  But  the  primary  fellowship 
of  Christians  is  the  Church.  Some  indeed  would  have  no 
church ;  they  would  have  man's  spiritual  life  a  disembodied 
wraith,  without  "a  local  habitation  and  a  name."  But  no  other 
one  of  all  man's  finer  interests  has  survived  without  organized 
expression.  Justice  is  a  great  ideal ;  any  endeavor  to  incar- 
nate it  in  human  institutions  sullies  its  purity.  One  who  dwelt 
only  on  the  lofty  nature  of  justice,  who  thought  of  it  uncon- 
taminated  and  ideal,  might  protest  against  its  embodiment  in 
the  tawdry  ritual  and  demeaning  squabbles  of  a  law  court. 
Between  the  poetry  of  justice  and  the  recriminations  of  law- 
yers, the  perjury  of  witnesses,  the  fumbling  uncertainty  of 
evidence,  the  miscarriages  of  equity,  how  bitterly  a  scornful 
mind  could  point  the  contrast !  But  a  reverent  mind,  sorry  as 
it  may  be  at  the  misrepresentation  of  the  ideal  in  the  human 
institution,  is  ill  content  with  scorn.  He  who  with  insight 
reads  the  history  of  jurisprudence,  perceives  how  the  courts 
of  law,  with  all  their  faults,  have  conserved  the  gains  in  social 
equity,  have  propagated  the  ideal  for  which  they  stand,  have 
made  progress  sometimes  slowly,  sometimes  with  a  rush  like 
soldiers  storming  a  redoubt,  and  in  times  of  stress  have  been 
a  bulwark  against  the  invasion  of  the  people's  rights.  The 
poetry  of  justice  would  have  been  an  idle  dream  without 
equity's  laborious  embodiment  in  codes  and  courts. 

Some  minds  dwell  with  joy  upon  the  spiritual  Church.  Its 
names  are  written  on  no  earthly  roster,  but  in  the  Book  of 
Life ;  its  worship  is  offered  in  no  earthly  temple,  but  in  the 
trysting  places  where  soul  meets  Over-soul  in  trustful  fellow- 
ship ;  its  baptism  is  not  with  water  but  with  spirit,  its  eucharist 

313 


[XII-c]  THE  MEANING  OF  FAITH 

not  with  bread  but  with  the  shared  life  of  the  Lord.  Or,  rang- 
ing out  tc  think  of  the  Church  as  an  ideal  human  brotherhood, 
men  dream  as  Manson  did  in  "The  Servant  in  the  House" : 

"If  you  have  eyes,  you  will  presently  see  the  church  itself 
— a  looming  mystery  of  many  shapes  and  shadows,  leaping 
sheer  from  floor  to  dome.  The  work  of  no  ordinary  builder ! 
.  .  .  The  pillars  of  it  go  up  like  the  brawny  trunks  of 
heroes :  the  sweet  human  flesh  of  men  and  women  is  moulded 
about  its  bulwarks,  strong,  impregnable :  the  faces  of  little 
children  laugh  out  from  every  corner-stone :  the  terrible 
spans  and  arches  of  it  are  the  joined  hands  of  comrades; 
and  up  in  the  heights  and  spaces  there  are  inscribed  the 
numberless  musings  of  all  the  dreamers  of  the  world.  It  is 
yet  building — building  and  built  upon.  Sometimes  the  work 
goes  forward  in  deep  darkness :  sometimes  in  blinding  light : 
now  beneath  the  burden  of  unutterable  anguish :  now  to  the 
tune  of  a  great  laughter  and  heroic  shoutings  like  the  cry 
of  thunder.  Sometimes,  in  the  silence  of  the  night-time,  one 
may  hear  the  tiny  hammerings  of  the  comrades  at  work  up 
in  the  dome — the  comrades  that  have  climbed  ahead." 

All  such  ideals,  like  pillars  of  fire  and  cloud,  lead  the  march 
toward  a  promised  land.  They  are  to  the  actual  Church  what 
the  poetry  of  justice  is  to  the  actual  courts.  But  in  one  case 
as  in  the  other,  such  ideals  are  dreams  if,  with  labor  and 
struggle,  through  many  mistakes,  against  the  disheartenment 
of  man's  frailty  and  sin,  we  do  not  work  out  an  institution 
that  shall  embody  and  express  man's  spiritual  life.  Even  now 
a  discerning  spirit  whose  own  faith  has  been  nourished  at  the 
altar  regards  the  Church  with  boundless  gratitude.  She  has 
indeed  been  to  the  Gospel  what  courts  are  to  justice,  indispens- 
able and  yet  burdensome,  an  institution  that  the  ideal  cannot 
live  without  and  yet  often  cannot  easily  live  with.  No 
one  feels  her  faults  so  acutely  as  one  who  devotedly 
values  the  Gospel  and  longs  for  its  adequate  expression 
on  the  earth.  Yet  the  Church  conserves  the  race's  spiritual 
gains,  fits  out  our  youth  with  the  treasure  of  man's  accumu- 
lated faith,  is  a  power  house  of  endless  moral  energy  for  good 
causes  in  the  world,  exalts  the  ideal  aims  of  life  amid  the 
crushing  pressure  of  material  pursuits,  holds  out  a  gospel  of 
hope  to  men  whom  all  others  have  forsaken,  and  to  the  ends 
of  the  earth  proclaims  the  good  news  of  God  and  the  King- 

314 


THE  FELLOWSHIP  OF  FAITH          [XII-c] 

dom.  No  other  fellowship  offers  to  men  of  faith  so  great  an 
opportunity  to  make  distinctive  contribution  to  the  race's 
spiritual  life.  In  the  presence  of  the  Church's  service  and  the 
Church's  need  an  unaffiliated  believer  in  Jesus  Christ  is  an 
anomaly.  For  enrichment,  stability,  and  expression,  faith 
must  have  fellowship. 

"Oh  magnify  Jehovah  with  me,  and  let  us  exalt  His  name 
together"  (Psalm  34:  3). 


315 


SCRIPTURE  PASSAGES  USED  IN  THE  DAILY 
READINGS 

Exouus  3:  i-5  (VI-S)  ;  4-  24-26  )II-4). 

DEUTERONOMY  28:  65-67  (VIII-2). 

II  KINGS  21:3-6  (IV-s). 

JOB  30:20,  21,  25-27  (X-4)  ;  37:23  (V-3)  ;  38:31-38  (VII-i). 

PSALMS  16:  5-11  (III-s) ;  23:  1-4  (X-3)  ;  27  1-6  (VIII-5)  ; 
27:  7-14  (V-7)  ;  5i :  i-4  (IH-3) ;  55=  i-7  (VIII-i) ;  56: 1-3 
(VIII-3)  ;  73:  2,  3,  16,  17,  24-26  (II-6) ;  103  1-5  (IH-2) ; 
118:  1-6  (VIII-7);  145:  i-io  (III-;) ;  146:  i-S  (IV-i). 

PROVERBS  2: 1-5  (II-3)  54:1-9  (II-2). 

ECCLESIASTES  3:  II    (V-3). 

ISAIAH  i:  10-17  (IV-2) ;  40:  26-31  (V-4) ;  51:  9-16  (VI-6)  ; 

55:1-3  (II-7). 
AMOS  5:21-24  (IX-4). 
MICAH  6:  1-8  (IX-3). 
MATTHEW  6:6-14  (III-i);  6:9-15  (XII-s)  ;  6:24-33  (VI-6); 

7:    15-20    (V-6);   7:   24-27    (VI-7);    13   54-58    (XI-3) ; 

17:19-20    (XI-4) ;    18:12-14    (II-4);    21:28-31    (X-i); 

23: 13-15,  23,  24  (XII-i) ;  25:34-40  (IX-7). 
MARK  12:28-30  (V-i). 
LUKE   6:12-16    (IX-2);   7  =  48-50    (XI-2)  ;    18:9-14    (IV-3)  ; 

22:31,  32  (XI-6). 
JOHN  3:21  (IX-s);  4:23,  24  (IV-s);  6:16,  17  (IX-S)  ; 

6:27-29    (XI-i);   7:16,   17    (IX-s);    14:25-27    (VII-2); 

17:20-23  (XII-6). 
ACTS  17:22-28  (IV-6). 
ROMANS  8:  1-6  (X-7)  ;  8:  14-16  (V-s)  ;  8:  24,  25  (III-4)  ; 

10:  11-15   (XII-4)  ;  n:  33,  34  (V-3);  n  :  33-12:  2  (IX- 

6);  15:  13  (HI-4);  16:  1-8  (IX-i). 

I  CORINTHIANS   2:10-14    (VII-4)  ;    3:4-9    (III-6) ;    3:18-23 

(VII-6);  4:  n-13  (VI-2). 

II  CORINTHIANS  5:5  (V-2). 

GALATIANS  2 :  20  (XI-s)  ;  5  :  13-15  (XII-3)  ;  5  :  16-23  (I V-7). 
EPHESIANS  i :  15-19  (VII-5)  ;  4:  13-15  (X-S). 

316 


SCRIPTURE  PASSAGES 

PHILIPPIANS  3: 12-16  (X-6). 

I  THESSALONIANS  3:  i,  2,  10  (XI-6)  ;  5 : 21  (V-i). 

II  THESSALONIANS  1:3  (XI-6). 

I  TIMOTHY  6:20,  21  (II-s). 

II  TIMOTHY  1:3-5  (H-i) ;  4:6-8  (XII-7). 

HEBREWS  i :  i,  2  (VII-7) ;  2:  8-10  (VI-3)  ;  4=  i,  2,  (1-6); 
10:23-25  (XII-2)  ;  10:32-36  (1-4);  ii :  i  (I-i)  J  ":3,  6 
1-5);  ii :  8-10  (1-2);  11:13-16  (I-i)  ;  11:24-27  (1-2); 
ii :  32-40  (1-3)  ;  12:  1-3  (VI-4)  ;  13:  7  (1-7). 

JAMES  i :  2-8  (X-a) ;  2:  14-21  (IV-4)  ;  5  13-16  (VIII-4). 

I  PETER  i :  3-9  (XI-7)  ;  4:  12-16,  19  (VI-i). 

II  PETER  1:5  (V-i). 
JUDE  20-25  (VII-3). 


SOURCES  OF  PRAYERS  USED  IN  THE 
DAILY  READINGS 

ALFRED,  KING — IX-3.  "A  Chain  of  Prayer  Across  the  Ages," 

by  S.  F.  Fox. 
ANSELM,  ST. — XI-6.     "A  Chain  of  Prayer  Across  the  Ages," 

by  S.  F.  Fox. 
ARNDT,  JOHANN — IX-i ;  X-i.    "A  Chain  of  Prayer  Across  the 

Ages,"  by  S.  F.  Fox. 
ARNOLD,  THOMAS— VII-5.     "A   Chain  of  Prayer  Across  the 

Ages,"  by  S.  F.  Fox. 
BACON,   FRANCIS — VII-2.     "A   Chain   of  *Prayer   Across   the 

Ages,"  by  S.  F.  Fox. 
BEECHER,  HENRY  WARD — 1-4;  1-7;  II-7;  III-5 ;  III-7;  IV-7; 

V-7 ;  VI-6 ;  X-s.    "A  Book  of  Public  Prayer." 
BOOK  OF  COMMON  PRAYER — XII-6. 
DAWSON,    GEORGE — X-4.      "A    Chain    of    Prayer    Across    the 

Ages,"  by  S.  F.  Fox. 
HALE,  SIR  MATTHEW — VII-4.    "A  Chain  of  Prayer  Across  the 

Ages,"  by  S.  F.  Fox. 
HUNTER,  JOHN— I-i ;  IV-5 ;  XI-2;  XI-3;  XII-7.     "Devotional 

Services  for  Public  Worship." 
JENKS,   BENJAMIN— X-2.     "A   Chain   of   Prayer   Across   the 

Ages,"  by  S.  F.  Fox. 

317 


SOURCES  OF  PRAYERS 

McCoMB,  SAMUEL— 1-6;  II-i ;  III-i ;  VI-3;  VIII-i ;  VIII-2; 

VIII-3;   VIII-s;  VIII-6;   VIII-7;   IX-2;   XI-i ;   XII-2; 

XII-4.     "A   Book  of   Prayers   for   Public  and   Personal 

Use." 

MARTINEAU,  JAMES— 111-45  IV-4;  V-2;  VI-2;  XII-i.     "Pray- 
ers in  the  Congregation  and  in  College." 
NEWMAN,   FRANCIS    W. — VI-i ;   VI-7.     "A   Chain  of  Prayer 

Across  the  Ages,"  by  S.  F.  Fox. 
ORCHARD,   W.    E.— 1-2;    1-3;    11-2;    11-3;    H-4;    11-5;    H-6; 

111-2;  IV-3;  IV-6;  V-i ;  V-3;  V-6;  VI-5;  VII-i ;  VII-3; 

VII-7;  VIII-4;  IX-s;  X-7;  XI-5 ;  XI-7.    "The  Temple." 
PARKER,    THEODORE— 1-5 ;    V-4;     V-5;     VI-4;     VII-6;    X-6. 

"Prayers." 
RAUSCHENBUSCH,  WALTER — III-6;  IV-i ;  IV-2;  IX-4;  IX-6; 

XII-3 ;  XII-5.    "Prayers  of  the  Social  Awakening." 
ROBINSON,  HELEN   RING — XI-4.     "Thy   Kingdom   Come,"   by 

Ralph  E.  Diffendorfer. 
SHAFTESBURY,  EARL  OF — IX-7.     "A  Chain  of  Prayer  Across 

the  Ages,"  by  S.  F.  Fox. 
STEVENSON,     ROBERT     Louis — III-3-      "Prayers     Written     at 

Vailima." 
VAN  DYKE,  HENRY — IV-6.    "Thy  Kingdom  Come,"  by  Ralph 

E.  Diffendorfer. 
WEISS,  S. — X-3.     "A  Chain  of  Prayer  Across  the  Ages,"  by 

S.  F.  Fox. 


This  book  is  DUJ  ojMhfljTO 
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